US downs three Iranian drones, strikes anti-ship ballistic missile fired by Huthi rebels

US military on Thursday said that an American naval destroyer shot down three Iranian drones along with an anti-ship missile fired by Yemen’s Huthi rebels.

Houthi Anti-Ship Ballistic Missile and Iranian UAVs shot down in Gulf of Aden: US Central Command (CENTCOM) pic.twitter.com/wj6V5u7q8t

— ANI (@ANI) February 1, 2024

“On Jan 1, at approximately 8:30 pm (Sanaa time), Iranian-backed Huthi militants fired one anti-ship ballistic missile from Huthi-controlled areas of Yemen toward the Gulf of Aden. The missile was successfully shot down by the USS Carney (DDG 64),” CENTCOM said in a statement.

“At 9:10 pm, the USS Carney engaged and shot down three Iranian UAVs in its vicinity. There were no damage or injuries reported,” the statement added.

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) had also earlier announced a strike on a Huthi surface-to-air missile it said posed an “imminent threat” to American aircraft – a deviation from past air raids that focused on reducing the rebels’ ability to threaten international shipping.

While the United States has carried out strikes on the Huthis and other Tehran-supported groups in the region, both it and Iran have sought to avoid a direct confrontation, and the downing of three Iranian drones could heighten tensions between the two countries.

It did specify whether the drones were armed or just for surveillance.

Earlier on Wednesday, US forces “struck and destroyed a Huthi surface-to-air missile that was prepared to launch” after determining that it “presented an imminent threat to US aircraft,” CENTCOM said.

It did not identify the type of aircraft that were threatened or the exact location of the strike, only saying that it took place in “Huthi-controlled areas of Yemen.”

The Huthis began targeting Red Sea shipping in November, saying they were hitting Israeli-linked vessels in support of Palestinians in Gaza, which has been ravaged by the Israel-Hamas war.

US and UK forces have responded with strikes on the Huthis, who have since declared American and British interests to be legitimate targets as well.

Some of the US strikes have been carried out against missiles that CENTCOM has said posed an imminent threat to ships, indicating a robust surveillance effort focused on Huthi-controlled territory that likely involves military aircraft.

The United States also set up a multinational naval task force last month to help protect Red Sea shipping from the Huthis, who are endangering a transit route that carries up to 12 percent of global trade.

In addition to military action, Washington has sought to put diplomatic and financial pressure on the Huthis, redesignating them as a terrorist organization earlier in January after previously having dropped that label soon after President Joe Biden took office.

But the Huthis’ attacks have persisted, with the rebels saying Wednesday that they targeted an American merchant ship bound for Israel with “several appropriate naval missiles that directly hit the vessel.”

Maritime security firm Ambrey said a commercial vessel was reportedly targeted with a missile southwest of Aden, and that the ship reported an explosion on its starboard side, but did not mention its nationality.

Earlier the same day, the Huthis said they fired multiple missiles at American destroyer the USS Gravely – a claim that came after CENTCOM said the warship downed an anti-ship cruise missile launched “from Huthi-controlled areas of Yemen toward the Red Sea.”

Anger over Israel’s devastating campaign in Gaza – which it launched after an unprecedented attack by Hamas in October – has grown across the Middle East, stoking violence involving Iran-backed groups in Lebanon, Iraq and Syria, as well as Yemen.

With inputs from agencies

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Blood on their hands: Mark Zuckerberg apologises to parents at Senate hearing for endangering children

During a US Senate hearing, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg issued an apology to families concerning the impact of social media on children.

Senators grilled leaders of major social media companies, emphasizing the urgent need for legislation and accusing the companies of having “blood on their hands” for neglecting child protection from increasing threats on their platforms.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham accused Zuckerberg and other companies of having a product “that’s killing people.”

“Mr. Zuckerberg, you and the companies before us, I know you don’t mean it to be so, but you have blood on your hands,” said Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, referring to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. “You have a product that’s killing people.”

Zuckerberg testified along with X CEO Linda Yaccarino, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew and Discord CEO Jason Citron.

Senator Dick Durbin, the Judiciary Committee’s Democratic chairman, cited statistics from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children nonprofit group that showed skyrocketing growth in financial “sextortion,” in which a predator tricks a minor into sending explicit photos and videos.

Prompted by Republican Senator Josh Hawley, Zuckerberg addressed families displaying images of their children allegedly harmed by social media.

Zuckerberg, along with CEOs of X, Snap, TikTok, and Discord, testified as lawmakers aimed to address concerns about social media companies prioritizing profits over child safety.

The committee played a video featuring children sharing experiences of bullying on social media platforms, with some young people reportedly taking their own lives after being extorted.

Senator Hawley challenged Zuckerberg to apologize directly to the victims, leading to Zuckerberg expressing regret but stopping short of taking full responsibility for facilitating the abuse.

Zuckerberg stood up, turned around, and addressed the families.

“I’m sorry for everything you have all been through. No one should go through the things that your families have suffered and this is why we invest so much and we are going to continue doing industry-wide efforts to make sure no one has to go through the things your families have had to suffer,” he said.

He pledged efforts to prevent similar incidents and addressed the families, apologizing for their suffering. The committee presented internal emails rejecting safety improvement hires, creating a tense exchange.

X’s CEO Linda Yaccarino, who was also present at the hearing, expressed support for the STOP CSAM Act, seeking to hold tech companies accountable for child sexual abuse material. Criticism was directed at X, formerly Twitter, for loosening moderation policies. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew disclosed increased monthly users but faced questions about the app’s impact on children’s mental health.

Under questioning by Senator Ted Cruz, Zuckerberg defended warning screens on Instagram, stating it can be useful to redirect users to resources rather than blocking content.

Senator Amy Klobuchar criticized tech industry inaction, comparing it to decisive responses in other industries, questioning why similar action isn’t taken when children’s lives are at stake on social media platforms.

(With inputs from agencies)

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10,000 Indian construction workers to reach Israel soon in batches starting next week

Approximately 10,000 laborers from India are scheduled to arrive in Israel starting next week, according to industry sources on Wednesday. Israel’s construction industry is currently experiencing a severe workforce shortage following the fighting with Hamas on October 7.

According to a source with the Israel Builders Association (IBA), these 10,000 workers will arrive in stages of 700–1,000 every week, PTI reported here.

The Israeli construction industry has been in severe crisis due to Israel’s most recent conflict with Hamas in Gaza, which lasted for just under four months. In addition, there has been a ban on the entry of Palestinian workers and the departure of several thousand other foreign workers. As a result, several ongoing projects are either stalled or delayed.

Israel forbade the entry of Palestinian laborers after the battle. The Israeli construction industry has been in severe distress since thousands of other foreign workers left.

Israeli business daily The Calcalist in a report in Hebrew last week said that the quota of foreign manpower for the construction industry has been increased from 30,000 to 50,000 and that the Israeli government last month approved the arrival of 10,000 workers from

Izchak Gurvitz, the head of the association’s workers’ issues division, and Igal Slovik, the CEO of IBA, oversee the selection process.

There are presently rumors that Israel’s Ministry of Housing and Construction is developing a plan to add 10,000 more jobs through the private track.

As a result, the industry will employ 60,000 foreign workers overall, up from the current quota of 50,000.

In a December phone call with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “discussed advancing the arrival of foreign workers from India to the State of Israel.”

During his April visit to India, Israel’s Minister of Economy, Nir Barkat, discussed employing Indians in a number of fields, including construction, with representatives and his counterpart in New Delhi.

Subsequently, the talks focused on bringing in about 160,000 people from different industries.

Approximately 18,000 Indians labor in Israel, primarily in caregiving roles. Because “they felt quite secure” and “also because the salaries are quite attractive,” the majority of them made the decision to remain in Israel and did not flee the nation during the conflict.

In May of last year, during the visit of then Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen to New Delhi, Israel and India also signed an agreement allowing 42,000 Indian workers to work in the Jewish state in the construction and nursing fields. At the time, this move was seen as a way “to help deal with the rising cost of living and assist thousands of families waiting for nursing care.”

The Israeli Foreign Ministry subsequently issued a statement stating that an additional 8,000 workers will be needed for nursing needs and 34,000 workers would be working in the construction industry.

(With agency inputs)

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Asia stocks head for monthly loss as China drags; FOMC looms

Wednesday’s wide decline in Asian stocks coincided with a decline in the Australian dollar following unexpectedly weak domestic inflation statistics and the continuation of high short-dated Treasury rates ahead of the Federal Reserve’s rate decision.

Following the release of an official factory survey revealing that China’s manufacturing activity shrank in January for the fourth consecutive month, Chinese markets trembled.

A two-month winning run was ended by the 0.5 per cent decline in MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific equities outside of Japan, which was headed for a monthly loss of 5 per cent.

This was partly caused by a sharp selloff in Chinese markets as investors lost faith in the government and expressed frustration over the lack of any stimulus measures to support the economy.

Concerns over the country’s beleaguered property sector also continued to weigh, as investors wait to see how the liquidation of property giant China Evergrande Group will play out.

China’s blue-chip index, which earlier this month sank to its lowest since 2019, was 0.7 per cent lower on the day and down roughly 6 per cent for January, marking its sixth straight monthly decline.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index shed more than 1 per cent, weighed down by property and tech names, and was on track for its worst January performance since 2016.

Beijing has stepped in to put a floor under its sliding stock market, including a deep cut to banks’ reserve requirements.

“There’s a patently clear sign in my mind (that) they don’t want the market to go down anymore,” Mark Matthews, Bank Julius Baer’s head of research for Asia, said at an outlook briefing in Singapore on Tuesday.

“Up until last week, they somehow thought that they could get away with just little dribs and drabs, and somebody must have decided somewhere that actually, no, we have to do more.”

Japan’s Nikkei, which has meanwhile been one of Asia’s standouts, looked set to end the month with a more than 7 per cent gain, its best January performance in over a decade.

The index was last down 0.5 per cent, as expectations mount for an imminent BOJ pivot on monetary policy.

A summary of opinions at the central bank’s January policy meeting, released on Wednesday, showed that policymakers discussed the likelihood of a near-term exit from negative interest rates and possible scenarios for phasing out the bank’s massive stimulus programme.

The yen extended its gains following the release of the minutes and was last marginally higher at 147.62 per dollar.

Still, the currency was headed for a monthly loss of more than 4 per cent, on the back of a resurgence in the dollar and as stark interest rate differentials remain between Japan and the US

The Aussie dollar was last 0.6 per cent lower at $0.6564 after data on Wednesday showed Australian consumer price inflation slowed more than expected in the fourth quarter to a two-year low, ramping up bets on imminent rate cuts.

Fed watch

Other market moves were largely subdued as traders stayed on guard ahead of the Fed’s rate decision later in the day, with expectations that the central bank will keep rates on hold.

The focus, however, will be on Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s post-meeting press conference, as well as any hints from policymakers on how soon the Fed could begin easing rates.

“It is too early to claim victory on inflation … Therefore, we expect some persisting hints of tough language at this week’s FOMC,” said Benoit Anne, managing director in the investment solutions group at MFS Investment Management.

“But there is nothing to worry about. The macro backdrop is as good as we have seen in a very long time, characterised by diminished recession risks and favourable disinflation dynamics.”

Data on Tuesday showed US job openings unexpectedly increased in December and data for the prior month was revised higher, pointing to a still-resilient labour market that is likely to give the Fed room to keep rates higher for longer.

That propped up the two-year Treasury yield, which typically reflects near-term interest rate expectations. It was last at 4.3345 per cent, having risen more than eight basis points for the month.

The US dollar similarly held broadly steady, with the euro down 0.18 per cent at $1.0823. Sterling fell 0.17 per cent to $1.26795.

Among commodities, oil prices dipped after climbing in the previous session as tensions linger in the Middle East.

Brent futures slipped 38 cents to $82.49 a barrel. US crude lost 32 cents to $77.50 per barrel.

Gold last bought $2,033.94 an ounce, retreating from a two-week top hit in the previous session.

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USCIS unveils H-1B programme reforms for FY 2025, prioritising integrity, streamlining processes

A final regulation regarding the fiscal year 2025 (FY 2025) H-1B cap has been announced by US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), with the goal of strengthening the integrity of the H-1B registration process and reducing fraud.

Regardless of the quantity of registrations made on their behalf, the regulation ensures fairness and equal opportunity for all beneficiaries by instituting a beneficiary-centric selection procedure.

The selection of registrations will now be based on distinct beneficiaries, lowering the possibility of fraud and guaranteeing equitable odds of selection. USCIS will require registrants to submit valid passport or travel document information for each beneficiary starting with the FY 2025 first registration period.

The final rule clarifies requirements regarding the requested employment start date on certain petitions subject to the H-1B cap, allowing filing with requested start dates after October 1 of the relevant fiscal year.

The rule codifies USCIS’ ability to deny or revoke H-1B petitions if the registration contains false attestation or is otherwise invalid.

USCIS has also announced a Fee Schedule final rule, effective after the initial registration period for FY 2025 H-1B cap.

The initial registration period for the FY 2025 H-1B cap will open on March 6, 2024, and run through March 22, 2024.

USCIS will launch organisational accounts on February 28, 2024, allowing collaboration on H-1B registrations, petitions, and associated forms. Online filing of Form I-129 and Form I-907 for non-cap H-1B petitions will also commence on the same date.

While petitioners can continue to file paper Form I-129 H-1B petitions, online filing options will be available starting April 1, 2024.

USCIS Director Ur M Jaddou stated, “The improvements in these areas should make H-1B selections more equitable for petitioners and beneficiaries and will allow for the H-1B process to be fully electronic from registration until final decision.”

These reforms aim to enhance the overall H-1B programme, making it more transparent, efficient, and resistant to fraudulent activities.

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China makes big move in Afghanistan as Xi Jinping accepts credentials of Afghan Taliban envoy

China took a big step on Tuesday, accepting the credentials of the envoy to Beijing from Afghanistan, which is governed by the Taliban. President Xi Jinping received the credentials of the Afghan ambassador in an official ceremony.

The Chinese president was also given the credentials by ambassadors from forty-one other nations during the same ceremony. Xi welcomed Bilal Karimi as an ambassador to China and accepted his credentials as ambassador and special representative.

Karimi met Wang Yi, the Chinese foreign minister, while serving as ambassador to China in December 2023. Afghanistan has joined China as an associate following this event.

China has repeatedly declared that it respects Afghanistan’s national sovereignty and its choices. Additionally, it has declared that it does not meddle in Afghanistan’s domestic affairs.

Contracts for mining are already managed by China in Afghanistan. Additionally, it had nominated a full-time ambassador to Kabul, who gave Taliban Prime Minister Mullah Hassan Akhud his diplomatic credentials.

China did this in order to become the first nation to designate a permanent ambassador to Afghanistan following the fall of Kabul in August 2021. It was an indication that China is prepared to expand the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) into Afghanistan and make significant investments.

China, however, had stated that prior to complete diplomatic relations, the Afghan Taliban must undergo reform last year. It had stated that in order to obtain full diplomatic recognition, the government would need to enact political changes, enhance security, and repair ties with its neighbors. Both nations were continuing their diplomatic relations and hosting each other’s diplomats at the same time.

Additionally, it had stated that while Afghanistan shouldn’t be kept out of the international community, the Taliban needed to live up to the expectations of the outside world.

Since taking control with the disorderly withdrawal of US forces in August 2021, the Taliban government has not received formal recognition from any nation. China has agreed to provide Afghanistan’s new leaders with guarantees that the nation won’t be used as a base for insurgents.

(With agency inputs)

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Neuralink has implanted brain chip in its first human patient, claims Elon Musk

Neuralink, the brain-machine interface startup founded by Elon Musk, has successfully implanted a brain chip in its first human patient, according to a recent announcement by Musk on the social media platform X. Musk reported that the patient is recovering well, and the initial outcomes of the procedure show promise.

The innovative brain implant developed by Neuralink is designed to empower individuals with traumatic injuries to operate computers through their thoughts.

In May last year the company secured approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to commence its initial human trials, targeting individuals with quadriplegia resulting from cervical spinal cord injury or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Elon Musk revealed that Neuralink’s inaugural product, named “Telepathy,” aims to facilitate control over phones, computers, and a wide range of devices simply by thinking.

The initial users of this technology are envisioned to be individuals who have lost the use of their limbs, with Musk emphasizing the potential for enhanced communication capabilities, citing the example of the late physicist Stephen Hawking.

In his X post, Musk highlighted positive results in neuron spike detection, indicating successful recordings from the patient’s brain.

Experts have noted the significance of Neuralink’s achievement but emphasized the need for the company to demonstrate superiority over other leading players in the field, such as Blackrock Neurotech and Synchron.

Neuralink has previously conducted extensive experiments on animals, including monkeys playing computer games using brain signals. However, this has raised concerns among animal rights groups like the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.

Elon Musk’s announcement follows years of anticipation, with Musk predicting human implantation as early as July 2019. While other companies, including Synchron, have made strides in human brain implants, Neuralink’s recent success is expected to mitigate criticism about potential delays.

Despite this progress, a commercial brain implant from Neuralink is not imminent. Jaimie Henderson, a neurosurgery professor at Stanford University and adviser to Neuralink, cautioned against overhyping the technology, stating that an approved device is still years away.

The challenging task ahead involves demonstrating the safety and efficacy of Neuralink’s chips, which penetrate less than 2mm into the brain, in subsequent studies following the initial human trials. The company aims to perform 11 surgeries in 2024, marking a pivotal year for the development of this groundbreaking technology.

(With inputs from agencies)

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Indian student in US, Neel Acharya, found dead day after mother sought information on him

Neel Acharya, an Indian student studying at Purdue University in Indiana state of the United States, who was reported missing since Sunday has been confirmed dead.

As per the office of Tippecanoe County Coroner, officials were called to identify a body on Sunday to the 500 Allison Road in West Lafayette for a possible dead body. Upon arrival, they found a “college-aged male” deceased on Purdue’s campus.

The deceased student was identified as Neel Acharya, a double major in computer science and data science at the John Martinson Honors College of Purdue University. He was reported missing on social media on Sunday.

In an email addressed to the university’s computer science department on Monday, interim CS head Chris Clifton told students and faculty of Neel’s death, The Exponent reported.

“It is with great sadness that I inform you that one of our students, Neel Acharya, has passed away,” Clifton was quoted as saying by The Exponent.

“My condolences go out to his friends, family, and all affected,” it added.

Clifton further said he received an email from the Office of the Dean of Students confirming Acharya’s death.

“A deceased person was found that matched Neel’s description and had Neel’s ID on (him),” he said.

Earlier on Monday, Gourya Acharya, mother of Neel, posted on X (formerly Twitter) that her son was missing since 28 January, 2024. “He was last seen by the Uber driver who dropped him off in Purdue University.”

In her post, she also said the family is looking for any information on Neel.

Our son Neel Acharya is missing since yesterday Jan 28( 12:30 AM EST) He is studying in Purdue University in the US.

He was last seen by the Uber driver who dropped him off in Purdue university.

We are looking for any info on him. Please help us if you know anything. pic.twitter.com/VWIS5uyJde

— Goury Acharya (@AcharyaGoury) January 29, 2024

In another post she said, "We need more details from the Uber driver that dropped him to get more information on him."

We need more details from the Uber driver that dropped him to get more information on him

— Goury Acharya (@AcharyaGoury) January 29, 2024

Responding to Gourya Acharya's post, India's Consulate General in Chicago said, "(The) Consulate is in touch with Purdue University authorities and also with Neel’s family. Consulate will extend all possible support and help".

Consulate is in touch with Purdue University authorities and also with Neel’s family. Consulate will extend all possible support and help. @IndianEmbassyUS @MEAIndia @SandhuTaranjitS

— India in Chicago (@IndiainChicago) January 29, 2024

His roommate and friend Aryan Khanolkar, said Neel was a “loving, charismatic soul, and will be cherished by all of us”.

Neel Acharya, the missing Purdue student, has been confirmed dead, according to an email from the interim head of the Department of Computer Science. A friend said, "He was a loving, caring, charismatic soul."https://t.co/3AO7QE3M0P

— Purdue Exponent (@purdueexponent) January 29, 2024

Neel Acharya's death follows the news of a brutal murder of another Indian student Vivek Saini, who was killed with repeated blows from a hammer by a homeless man, Julian Faulkner, inside a convenience store in Lithonia, Georgia, US, where he worked a part-time job.

Last week, another Indian student, 18-year-old Akul Dhawan, was found dead outside the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). He took admission in the University of Illinois' Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering to study robotics.

With inputs from agencies

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North Korea fires 'several' cruise missiles: Seoul military

According to Seoul’s military, North Korea launched multiple cruise missiles into the seas off its west coast on Tuesday. This was just one of Pyongyang’s many weapons tests this year.

South Korea’s military “detected several unknown cruise missiles launched into the West Sea of North Korea around 07:00 (2200 GMT)”, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

South Korean and US intelligence agencies “are conducting a detailed analysis,” the JCS said.

“Our military is cooperating closely with the US while strengthening surveillance and vigilance, and is closely monitoring North Korea’s activities,” it added.

The present UN sanctions on Pyongyang do not prohibit the testing of cruise missiles, in contrast to their ballistic equivalents.

Cruise missiles are more difficult to identify and intercept than more advanced ballistic missiles since they are often jet-propelled and travel at a lower height.

The two Koreas’ relationship has rapidly deteriorated in recent months as they have abandoned important agreements aimed at easing tension, increased border security, and started holding live-fire drills.

In the new year, Pyongyang has increased its testing of armaments, demonstrating its “underwater nuclear weapon system” and its hypersonic ballistic missile powered by solid fuel.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised the test launch of a new strategic cruise missile from a submarine on Monday, according to official media.

Photos showed a missile soaring into the sky from the water, leaving a huge trail of white smoke, but it was not clear if it had been fired from a submarine.

In recent weeks, Kim has declared the South his country’s “principal enemy”, jettisoned agencies dedicated to reunification and outreach and threatened war over “even 0.001 mm” of territorial infringement.

He also said Pyongyang would not recognise the two countries’ de facto maritime border, the Northern Limit Line, and called for constitutional changes allowing the North to “occupy” Seoul in war, the Korean Central News Agency said.

‘Overwhelming response’

In Seoul, President Yoon Suk Yeol told his cabinet that should the nuclear-armed North carry out a provocation, South Korea would hit back with a response “multiple times stronger”, pointing to his military’s “overwhelming response capabilities”.

Pyongyang’s latest launch comes after South Korea conducted a 10-day special forces infiltration drill off the country’s east coast, “in light of serious security situations” with the North, which ended January 25.

At North Korea’s year-end policy meetings, Kim threatened a nuclear attack on the South and called for a build-up of his country’s military arsenal ahead of armed conflict he warned could “break out any time”.

Earlier this month, the North launched a solid-fuel hypersonic missile, just days after Pyongyang staged live-fire exercises near the country’s tense maritime border with South Korea, which prompted counter-exercises and evacuation orders for some border islands belonging to the South.

Kim also successfully put a spy satellite into orbit late last year, after receiving what Seoul said was Russian help, in exchange for arms transfers for Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

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Biden vows US 'shall respond' after troops killed in Jordan

Following a drone strike on a Jordanian facility on Sunday that claimed the lives of three US soldiers and injured over thirty more, President Joe Biden blamed insurgents supported by Iran and promised to bring those responsible accountable.

Since the start of the conflict between Israel and Iran-backed Hamas, this is the first time that American military personnel have been killed by enemy fire in the Middle East. The incident is expected to escalate tensions in the area and fuel concerns of a wider confrontation that directly involves Tehran.

“While we are still gathering the facts of this attack, we know it was carried out by radical Iran-backed militant groups operating in Syria and Iraq,” Biden said in a statement, pledging to hold “all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner of our choosing.”

Later in the day at a South Carolina church banquet hall, the president held a moment of silence for the US troops killed in the attack, then said: “We shall respond.”

‘Regional explosion’

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri called the attack “a message to the American administration that unless the killing of innocent people in Gaza stops, it may be faced with the entire (Muslim) nation.”

“The continuation of the American-Zionist aggression on Gaza risks a regional explosion,” Abu Zuhri said.

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said Sunday evening that the attack had hit a logistics support base located at Tower 22, in northeast Jordan, and that it wounded at least 34 service members, eight of whom required evacuation from the country.

There are around 350 US Army and Air Force personnel at the base who conduct “a number of key support functions,” including for the international coalition against the Islamic State jihadist group, CENTCOM said.

Jordan’s government spokesman Muhannad Mubaidin, after initially claiming the attack took place in neighboring Syria, later said it “targeted an advanced position on the border with Syria.”

Mubaidin condemned the attack, as did Bahrain, Egypt and Britain, whose Foreign Secretary David Cameron called on Iran to “de-escalate in the region.”

Growing Middle East crisis

The escalating Middle East conflict poses a challenge to Biden in an election year, with various Republican politicians quick to take aim at the president over the deadly attack, including his predecessor Donald Trump, who described the situation as a “consequence of Joe Biden’s weakness and surrender.”

US and allied forces in Iraq and Syria have been targeted in more than 150 attacks since mid-October, according to the Pentagon, and Washington has carried out retaliatory strikes in both countries.

Many of the attacks on US personnel have been claimed by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a loose alliance of Iran-linked armed groups that oppose US support for Israel in the Gaza conflict.

The latest round of the Israel-Hamas conflict began when the Palestinian militant group carried out a shock attack on October 7 that resulted in about 1,140 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures.

Following the attack, the United States rushed military aid to Israel, which has carried out a relentless military offensive that has killed at least 26,422 people in Gaza, most of them women and children, according to the Gaza health ministry.

Those deaths have sparked widespread anger across the region and stoked violence involving Iran-backed groups in Lebanon, Iraq and Syria as well as Yemen.

The Lebanon portion of the conflict has been limited to near daily exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and Israel, but American forces are directly involved in Iraq and Syria, as well as in Yemen.

The United States and Britain have both carried out strikes targeting Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels, who have carried out more than two months of attacks on shipping.

The growing violence in multiple parts of the Middle East has raised fears of a broader regional conflict directly involving Iran — a worst-case scenario that Washington is desperately seeking to avoid.

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Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf unveils manifesto ahead of elections

Barrister Gohar Khan of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf unveiled the party’s election platform on Sunday, pledging social and constitutional improvements, with less than two weeks till the general elections on February 8th.

Claiming that officials were preventing party-backed candidates from running for office, the PTI released the manifesto during national election campaigns.

Gohar said that the PTI’s manifesto was called “Shandaar Pakistan, Shandaar Mustaqbil aur Kharaab Maazi sey chutkara” during a news conference in Islamabad. According to Dawn, he claimed that the party leaders who were behind the paper couldn’t make it to the press conference out of concern that they would be arrested.

According to local media reports, the PTI leader promised to establish a truth and reconciliation commission in order to redress the injustices that the average man must endure when discussing the manifesto.

Gohar promised to raise the tax bracket and alter the tax system in his remarks about the nation’s economy. He added that farmers will get a subsidy to help them get back on their feet.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Nawaz Sharif delivered the party’s election manifesto on Saturday, one day before the polls.

Speaking at a party in Lahore, Nawaz Sharif declared that if the PML-N is elected to power, its platform will be “fully implemented.” Nawaz Sharif hoped that the manifesto would be read by people.

Nawaz Sharif declared that the manifesto’s most significant component was Pakistan’s economy. Despite his removal as Pakistan’s prime minister in 2017 and his “political vendettas” against the PML-N, he saw it as a “strange coincidence” that his Sharif claimed he wasn’t “in the mood to complain” or meant to “express his grievances”.

Sharif claimed he wasn’t “in the mood to complain” or meant to “express his grievances.”

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Iran condemns attack on Pakistanis, pledges to protect 'brotherly relations'

Nine Pakistanis were slain in an armed attack in Iran’s Saravan city, which came a day after Islamabad referred to it as a “heinous crime” and urged Tehran to prosecute those responsible. This occurs weeks after airstrikes on each other’s territory, which Iran and Pakistan said were in retaliation for terrorist attacks.

In a statement released on Sunday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani stated that he “strongly condemned” the attack that happened in the province of Sistan and Baluchestan, which is near Iran’s border with Pakistan.

Saravan was the scene of an attack on Saturday by unidentified attackers. Mehr News Agency, a semi-official news agency in Iran, said that no organization or person has yet taken credit for it.

“Kanaani extended his sympathies to the Pakistani government and the families of the victims. The Foreign Ministry spokesman further noted that the responsible bodies have launched an investigation into the attack, adding that Iran and Pakistan will not let the enemies damage brotherly relations between the two nations,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Relations between the two nations deteriorated earlier this month after Iran launched missile and drone strikes on Pakistan’s Balochistan province, claiming the raids were intended to target a terror stronghold used by the Sunni militant group Jaish al-Adl.

According to Pakistani officials, civilians were killed in the strike, and the government issued a warning about possible reprisal. Additionally, Islamabad called back its Iranian ambassador.

Two days later, Pakistan launched military operations against what it claimed to be separatist strongholds in the province of Sistan and Baluchestan in Iran.

The attack that happened on Saturday happened in this same province.

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Israel vows to stop UN agency's activities in Gaza after war

After staff members suspected of being involved in the October 7 incident were fired, Israel pledged on Saturday to cease operations of the UN humanitarian assistance organisation in Gaza after the war and demanded the resignation of the agency’s head.

The UN refugee agency, UNRWA, said on Friday that it has dismissed many staff members due to Israel’s complaints. The organisation also pledged to conduct a comprehensive inquiry into the allegations, which remained unspecified.

Germany, Britain, Italy, Australia, and Finland are among the donors who have followed suit with the United States, which said on Friday that it has stopped giving the organisation more cash in response to the allegations.

The resignation of UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini was demanded by Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz.

“Mr Lazzarini please resign,” Katz said on social media platform X late on Saturday in response to a post by the UNRWA chief warning that funding cuts meant the agency’s operation in Gaza was about to collapse.

Katz had said in an earlier statement that the UNRWA “must be replaced with agencies dedicated to genuine peace and development” in Gaza’s rebuilding.

Hamas slammed Israeli “threats” against UNRWA on Saturday, urging the United Nations and other international organisations not to “cave in to the threats and blackmail”.

Relations between Israel and UNRWA have been strained for years but deteriorated in recent days, with the UN body condemning tank shelling it said had hit a shelter for displaced people in Gaza’s main southern city of Khan Yunis.

The agency said tens of thousands of displaced people had been registered at the shelter and Wednesday’s tank shelling killed 13 people.

The Israeli military said “a thorough review of the operations of the forces in the vicinity is underway”, adding it was examining the possibility that the strike was a “result of Hamas fire”.

Lazzarini slammed Wednesday’s bombardment as a “blatant disregard of basic rules of war”, with the compound clearly marked as a UN facility and its coordinates shared with Israeli authorities.

The Israeli army is the only force known to have tanks operating in the Gaza Strip.

‘Vital role’

The war in Gaza was sparked by Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attacks that resulted in about 1,140 deaths in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.

Militants also seized about 250 hostages and Israel says around 132 of them remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 28 dead captives.

Israel has vowed to crush Hamas and Gaza’s health ministry says the Israeli military offensive has killed at least 26,257 people, about 70 percent of them women and children.

UNRWA struggled to meet funding requirements before the fighting broke out.

Its chronic budget shortfalls worsened dramatically in 2018 when former US president Donald Trump cut funding.

But US President Joe Biden’s administration fully restored support, providing $340 million in 2022, making it the agency’s largest bilateral donor.

The US State Department said Friday it had “temporarily paused additional funding” while it reviewed the claims about UNRWA staff.

Several key donor countries said Saturday they would halt funding. Lazzarini responded that it was “shocking to see a suspension of funds to the agency in reaction to allegations against a small group of staff”.

Top EU diplomat Josep Borrell praised the agency Friday for “playing a vital role over many years supporting vulnerable Palestinian refugees”.

But he said the bloc expected “full transparency”, as well as “immediate measures against staff involved”.

The Palestinian Authority, based in the occupied West Bank, urged donors to reverse their suspension, calling on Saturday for “maximum support”.

Johann Soufi, a lawyer and former director of UNRWA’s legal office in Gaza, told AFP the agency had “always had a zero-tolerance policy for violence and incitement to hatred”.

“Sanctioning UNRWA, which is barely keeping the entire population of Gaza alive, for the alleged responsibility of a few employees, is tantamount to collectively punishing the Gazan population, which is living in catastrophic humanitarian conditions,” he said.

The accusations against UNRWA staff came hours after the UN’s top court ruled on Friday that Israel must prevent possible acts of genocide in Gaza, its first judgement in a landmark case brought by South Africa.

Soufi said the timing of the allegations against UNRWA “raises questions”.

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Pakistan polls: Former PM Nawaz Sharif promises "Message of Peace" to India in party manifesto

Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), unveiled its manifesto on Saturday, outlining key priorities including restoring Pakistan’s economy, fostering peace with India, combating climate change, and adopting a zero-tolerance stance towards terrorism.

With less than two weeks remaining before the February 8 general elections, the manifesto emphasizes the importance of sending a “message of peace” to other countries, particularly India. However, it conditions this peace message on India reversing its actions taken in August 2019 regarding Kashmir, as reported by Dawn.com, quoting the manifesto.

India has told Pakistan that Jammu and Kashmir is an inalienable and integral part of the country. Article 370, which was abrogated by India’s Parliament in 2019, is entirely a matter of India as well as its Constitution, the Ministry of External Affairs has reiterated previously.

The manifesto also vows to combat the impacts of climate change and a “zero-tolerance policy” towards terrorism, it said.

The other agendas on the PML-N’s table include a “secured water future” and “add life to the economy through exports”.

Released at a special event here in the provincial capital of Punjab, the PML-N later shared the detailed manifesto titled ‘Pakistan ko Nawaz do’ on its official X account.

“If voted to power, the party vowed to provide the public with cheap and increased electricity as well as speedy development. Its promises include a 20 to 30 per cent reduction in power bills, a 15,000 megawatt-increase in electricity production, and a 10,000 MW production of solar energy,” the Dawn newspaper reported.

The party has vowed to ensure youth representation in national politics through parliament, and provincial and local governments and aimed to restore student unions, expand the National Youth Scheme, allocate funds for IT start-ups and increase youth entrepreneurship.

It also promised to establish Pakistan’s first sports university and 250 stadiums and academies along with youth skills development.

A plan to bring constitutional, legal, judicial and administrative reforms; combating violence against minorities; modernising agriculture, and making women independent apart from introducing a new labour policy to ensure their rights were also mentioned in the document.

The other promises include the abolition of the National Accountability Bureau and bringing in comprehensive amendments to the Civil Procedure Code, 1908, and Criminal Procedure Code, 1898 to standardise the procedural laws.

The manifesto also said court proceedings will be telecast live if the party is elected, according to The News International newspaper.

Nawaz Sharif termed it a “strange coincidence” that despite him being ousted as the prime minister in 2017 and “political vendettas” against the PML-N, his party members were once again “preparing to contest elections and presenting their manifesto.”

The former three-time prime minister also added that he neither intended to “express his grievances” nor was “in a mood to complain today.” In an indirect reference to former prime minister Imran Khan, he said, “If I was there in the previous government instead of the person who you saw, I would have never done what he did.”

Criticising the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party that formed a government following the 2018 elections, Nawaz Sharif said Imran Khan’s regime broke the poor people’s back through inflation and cut off the electricity. Nawaz Sharif claimed that electricity was never cut off during his rule.

Nawaz Sharif also recalled the PML-N’s previous tenures, saying there was “no inflation” back then.

Pakistan is in economic ruin and awaiting a monumental financial default without long overdue structural reforms sought by global creditors such as the IMF and the World Bank, along with bilateral partners like China and the UAE.

The primary reason behind Pakistan’s economic issues is its staggering debt levels, which, as of 2023, amount to nearly USD 125 billion owed to external creditors, with approximately one-third to China.

With inputs from PTI.

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US urges Bejing to press Iran over Houthi attacks, China warns US over Taiwan independence

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan urged Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to use China’s influence with Iran to help alleviate tensions in the Middle East. During talks in Thailand, Sullivan pressed Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to use his country’s diplomatic influence to convince Iran to curtail support for Houthis attacking Red Sea merchant vessels, according to a senior Biden administration official.

The meetings, which spanned more than 12 hours over two days and wrapped on Saturday, are intended to deliver on Biden and Xi’s agreement at a California summit in November to restore ruptured diplomatic talks on a range of global security and economic issues like defence and counter-narcotics despite significant disagreements.

The meetings Friday and Saturday in Bangkok, which followed up on the presidents’ discussions in November in California, took place after a ruling-party candidate opposed by Beijing won Taiwan’s recent presidential election and U.S. and Chinese military officials resumed a once-frozen dialogue. They played out as attacks by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen continue to threaten global shipping in the Red Sea.

A senior U.S. official said Sullivan cited China’s extensive economic leverage over Iran and emphasised the destabilizing effect of the Houthi attacks on international commerce. The official noted that China has publicly called for lower tensions, but said it was too soon to tell whether Beijing was using its diplomatic muscle to press Tehran on the matter. The official was not authorized to publicly discuss the private conversations between Sullivan and Wang and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said Wang said Washington should stand by a commitment not to support independence for Taiwan. Wang said Taiwan’s election, won by Lai Ching-te, the current vice president, did not alter the Chinese position that the island is part of China and that the biggest challenge in U.S.-China relations is the issue of “Taiwan independence,” according to a statement from the ministry.

Biden has said he does not support independence, but U.S. law requires a credible defence for Taiwan and for the U.S. to treat all threats to the island as matters of “grave concern.”

The U.S. official said it was not clear when the next Biden-Xi conversation would happen, but that the officials hoped it would take place in the coming months.

Wang and Sullivan previously met on the Mediterranean island nation of Malta and in Vienna last year before the Biden-Xi meeting in California.

In November, both sides showcased modest agreements to combat illegal fentanyl and reestablish military communications, keeping the relationship from growing any worse. The U.S.-China Counternarcotics Working Group is set to hold its first meeting on Tuesday. American officials say fentanyl and its precursors are largely manufactured in China.

China claims self-ruled Taiwan as its own territory and in recent years has shown its displeasure at political activities in Taiwan by sending military planes and ships. Earlier Saturday, Taiwan’s defence ministry said China had sent more than 30 warplanes and a group of navy ships toward the island during a 24-hour period, including 13 warplanes that crossed the midline of the Taiwan Strait — an unofficial boundary that’s considered a buffer between its territory and the mainland.

Wang also said China and the U.S. should use the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries this year as an opportunity to reflect on past experiences and treat each other as equals, rather than adopting a condescending attitude.

The countries should “be committed to mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation, building a correct way for China and the U.S. to interact,” the statement quoted Wang as saying.

Taiwan has said six Chinese balloons either flew over the island or through airspace just north of it, days after the self-governing island held its election. Lai’s Democratic Progressive Party largely campaigned on self-determination, social justice and a rejection of China’s threats.

Apart from cross-strait issues, Sullivan and Wang also discussed Russia’s war against Ukraine, the Middle East, North Korea, the South China Sea, and Myanmar, the White House said. Sullivan and Wang talked about progress toward holding a dialogue this spring between U.S. and Chinese officials on artificial intelligence.

Sullivan highlighted that although Washington and Beijing compete, both sides have to “prevent it from veering into conflict or confrontation,” according to a White House summary of the meeting.

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Ecuador: Supreme Court blocks nine referendum questions

President Daniel Noboa wanted to put nine security-related referendum questions to Ecuadoreans, but the country’s highest court blocked them on Friday, citing constitutional violations.

In response to the escalating violence in the Andean nation, Noboa proclaimed a state of emergency and instituted a 60-day curfew at night. At the same time, the country designated 22 criminal bands as terrorist organizations and launched a military offensive against them.

Four more referendum questions, including those on the recognition of international arbitration and the extradition of Ecuadorians, will be reexamined, the Constitutional Court said, while six other questions were approved.

Noboa had said that he hopes to hold the referendum in March.

In its ruling, the Constitutional Court said it blocked the nine questions because they do not change current regulations, are imprecise, or address multiple topics.

Among questions the court denied were those on allowing security forces to carry out operations preempting organized crime, as well as on changes to sanctions and pardons regarding the use of force.

Noboa’s press office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Ecuador has been engulfed in spiraling violence, including in prisons where hundreds of inmates have been killed in recent years, which officials attribute to gangs of drug traffickers.

(With inputs from Reuters)

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Worst Sea battle in Decades: Yemen's Houthis claim missile hit on a US navy warship

The Houthi terrorists in Yemen continued their aggressive attacks on maritime traffic on Friday, firing a missile at a US warship cruising the Gulf of Aden and forcing it to shoot down the missile. They also hit a British vessel.

Houthi missile fire on Friday night ignited another commercial vessel, signaling a further uptick in the largest naval conflict the U.S. Navy has witnessed in the Middle East in decades. The attack targeted the U.S. warship, the destroyer USS Carney.

Since the terrorists started attacking ships in October, the Carney attack marks the first time the Houthis have specifically targeted a U.S. warship, a U.S. official said on condition of anonymity because no permission had been granted to talk about the incident.

Later Friday, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Operations, which oversees Mideast waterways, acknowledged a vessel had been struck by a missile and was on fire in the Gulf of Aden.

Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree did not acknowledge the Carney attack, but claimed the missile attack on the commercial vessel that set it ablaze. He identified the vessel as the Marshall Islands-flagged tanker Marlin Luanda.

A U.S. military official confirmed the vessel was struck by a single anti-ship ballistic missile fired from Houthi-controlled Yemen. The Carney was sailing toward the stricken ship to provide assistance but had not reached it as of Friday evening.

The Houthi’s now direct attacks on U.S. warships are the most aggressive escalation of it’s campaign in the Red Sea since the Israel-Hamas war broke out. The U.S. has tried to temper its descriptions of the Houthi’s strikes, and said it is difficult to determine what exactly the Houthis are trying to hit in part try to prevent the conflict from becoming a wider regional war.

The U.S. and allies had also held off for weeks on striking Houthi weapons sites in Yemen, but they are now taking regular action, often destroying launch sites that are armed but have not fired, and are deemed an imminent threat.

Despite the Carney being directly targeted, a statement by the U.S. military’s Central Command Friday said the Houthis fired “toward” the Carney.

Acknowledging Friday’s assault as a direct attack on a U.S. warship is important, said Brad Bowman, a senior director at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.

“They’re now finally calling a spade a spade, and saying that, yeah, they’re trying to attack our forces, they’re trying to kill us,” he said.

Tempering the language and response, while aimed at preventing a wider war, has had the opposite effect of further emboldening the Houthis, Bowman said.

In Friday’s attack, an anti-ship ballistic missile came near the USS Carney, an Arleigh-Burke class destroyer that’s been involved in American operations to try to stop the Houthi campaign since November, Central Command said.

“The missile was successfully shot down by USS Carney,” it said. “There were no injuries or damage reported.”

The attacks were the latest assaults by the terrorists in their campaign against ships traveling through the Red Sea and surrounding waters, which has disrupted global trade amid Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The U.S. and Britain have launched multiple rounds of airstrikes since the Houthi attacks began targeting Houthi missile depots and launcher sites in Yemen, a country that’s been wracked by conflict since the terrorists seized the capital, Sanaa, in 2014.

Since November, the terrorists have repeatedly targeted ships in the Red Sea, saying they were avenging Israel’s offensive in Gaza against Hamas. But they have frequently targeted vessels with tenuous or no clear links to Israel, imperiling shipping in a key route for global trade between Asia, the Mideast and Europe.

Since the airstrike campaign began, the terrorists now say they’ll target American and British ships as well. On Wednesday, two American-flagged ships carrying cargo for the U.S. Defense and State departments came under attack by the Houthis, forcing an escorting U.S. Navy warship to shoot some of the projectiles down.

The U.S. Navy’s top Mideast commander told the AP on Monday that the Houthi attacks were the worst since the so-called Tanker War of the 1980s. It culminated in a one-day naval battle between Washington and Tehran, and also saw the U.S. Navy accidentally shoot down an Iranian passenger jet, killing 290 people in 1988.

(with inputs from The Associated Press)

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Donald Trump testifies for less than 3 minutes in E Jean Carroll trial, rebuked by judge

He spoke for less than three minutes on the stand, yet former President Donald Trump still violated a judge’s restrictions regarding what he could disclose to the jury regarding writer E. Jean Carroll’s sexual assault and defamation allegations. Exiting the courtroom on Thursday, Trump expressed frustration to onlookers, asserting, “This is not America.”

During his testimony in the defamation trial, Trump refrained from making eye contact with the jury during his brief appearance on the witness stand, which had been heavily negotiated.

Due to the intricate legal framework of the case, the judge imposed constraints on his attorneys, allowing only a few succinct questions that could elicit yes or no responses. These questions centered on whether he had made disparaging remarks in response to an accusation and had no intention of causing harm to Carroll.

Despite these limitations, Trump exceeded the boundaries set by the judge.

“She said something that I considered to be a false accusation,” Associated Press quoted him as saying, later adding: “I just wanted to defend myself, my family and, frankly, the presidency.”

After Judge Lewis A. Kaplan told jurors to disregard those remarks, Trump rolled his eyes as he stepped down from the witness stand. The former president and current Republican front-runner left the courtroom during a break soon after, shaking his head and declaring to spectators — three times — that “this is not America.”

Carroll looked on throughout from the plaintiff’s table. The longtime advice columnist alleges that Trump attacked her in 1996, then defamed her by calling her a liar when she went public with her story in a 2019 memoir.

While Trump has said a lot about her to the court of public opinion, Thursday marked the first time he has directly addressed a jury about her claims.

But jurors also heard parts of a 2022 deposition — a term for out-of-court questioning under oath — in which Trump vehemently denied Carroll’s allegations, calling her “sick” and a “whack job.” Trump told jurors Thursday that he stood by that deposition, “100%.”

Trump didn’t attend a related trial last spring, when a different jury found that he did sexually abuse Carroll and that some of his comments were defamatory, awarding her $5 million. This trial concerns only how much more he may have to pay her for certain remarks he made in 2019, while president. She’s seeking at least $10 million.

Because of the prior jury’s findings, Kaplan said Trump now couldn’t offer any testimony “disputing or attempting to undermine” the sexual abuse allegations. The law doesn’t allow for “do-overs by disappointed litigants,” the judge said.

Even before taking the stand, Trump chafed at those limitations as the judge and lawyers for both sides discussed what he could be asked.

“I never met the woman. I don’t know who the woman is. I wasn’t at the trial,” he cut in from his seat at the defense table without jurors in the room. Kaplan told Trump he wasn’t allowed to interrupt the proceedings.

Trump was the last witness, and closing arguments are set for Friday.

Carroll, 80, claims Trump, 77, ruined her reputation after she publicly aired her account of a chance meeting that spiraled into a sexual assault in spring 1996. At the time, he was a prominent real estate developer, and she was an Elle magazine advice columnist who’d had a TV show.

She says they ran into each other at Bergdorf Goodman, a luxury department store close to Trump Tower, bantered and ended up in a dressing room, teasing each other about trying on lingerie. She has testified that she thought it would just be a funny story to tell but then he roughly forced himself on her before she eventually fought him off and fled.

The earlier jury found that she was sexually abused but rejected her allegation that she was raped.

Besides Trump, his defense called only one other witness, a friend of Carroll’s. The friend, retired TV journalist Carol Martin, was among two people the writer told about her encounter with Trump shortly after it happened, according to testimony at the first trial.

Trump lawyer Alina Habba confronted Martin on Tuesday with text messages in which she called Carroll a “narcissist” who seemed to be reveling in the attention she got from accusing and suing Trump. Martin said she regretted her word choices and doesn’t believe that Carroll loved the attention she has been getting.

Carroll has testified that she has gotten death threats that worried her enough to buy bullets for a gun she inherited from her father, install an electronic fence, warn her neighbors and unleash her pit bull to roam freely on the property of her small cabin in the mountains of upstate New York.

Trump’s attorneys have tried to show the jury through their cross-examination of various witnesses that by taking on Trump, Carroll has gained a measure of fame and financial rewards that outweigh the threats and other venom slung at her through social media.

After Carroll’s lawyers rested Thursday, Habba asked for a directed verdict in Trump’s favor, saying Carroll’s side hadn’t proven its case. Kaplan denied the request.

Even before testifying, Trump had already tested the judge’s patience. After he complained to his lawyers last week about a “witch hunt” and a “con job” within earshot of jurors, Kaplan threatened to eject him from the courtroom if it happened again. “I would love it,” Trump said. Later that day, Trump told a news conference Kaplan was a “nasty judge” and that Carroll’s allegation was “a made-up, fabricated story.”

While attending the trial last week, Trump made it clear — through muttered comments and gestures like shaking his head — that he was disgusted with the case. When a video clip from a Trump campaign rally last week was shown in court Thursday, he appeared to lip-synch himself saying the trial was rigged.

The trial had been suspended since early Monday because of a juror’s illness. When it resumed Thursday, the judge said two jurors were being “socially distanced” from the others.

Trump attended the trial fresh off big victories in the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday and the Iowa caucuses last week. Meanwhile, he also faces four criminal cases. He has been juggling court and campaign appearances, using both to argue that he’s being persecuted by Democrats terrified of his possible election.

The Associated Press typically does not name people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly, as Carroll has done.

With inputs from agencies

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US economy grew at 3.3 per cent pace in fourth quarter while inflation pulled back

The US economy experienced a much faster growth rate than anticipated, and inflation eased in the last three months of 2023. From October through December, the economy expanded at an unexpectedly brisk annual pace of 3.3% as Americans showed a continued willingness to spend freely, even in the face of high interest rates and price levels that have been a source of frustration for many households.

According to the report released by the Commerce Department the gross domestic product — the economy’s total output of goods and services — decelerated from its sizzling 4.9% growth rate the previous quarter. But the latest figures still reflected the surprising durability of the world’s largest economy, marking the sixth straight quarter in which GDP has grown at an annual pace of 2% or more.

Consumers, who account for about 70% of the total economy, drove the fourth-quarter growth. Their spending expanded at a 2.8% annual rate, for items ranging from clothing, furniture, recreational vehicles and other goods to services like hotels and restaurant meals.

The GDP report also showed that despite the robust pace of growth in the October-December quarter, inflationary measures continued to ease. Consumer prices rose at a 1.7% annual rate, down from 2.6% in the third quarter. And excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core inflation came in at a 2% annual rate.

Those inflation numbers could reassure the Federal Reserve’s policymakers, who have already signaled that they expect to cut their benchmark interest rate three times in 2024, reversing their 2022-2023 policy of aggressively raising rates to fight inflation. Some economists think the Fed could begin cutting rates as early as May.

Nathan Sheets, global chief economist at Citi, said that recent experience suggests that economic growth can remain solid even as inflation cools.

“It underscores for the Fed that they don’t have to be in a hurry” to ease borrowing rates to aid the economy, said Sheets, who thinks the first rate cut will occur in June.

The state of the economy is sure to weigh on people’s minds ahead of the November elections. After an extended period of gloom, Americans are starting to feel somewhat better about inflation and the economy — a trend that could sustain consumer spending, fuel economic growth and potentially affect voters’ decisions. A measure of consumer sentiment by the University of Michigan, for example, has jumped in the past two months by the most since 1991.

There is growing optimism that the Fed is on track to deliver a rare “soft landing” — keeping borrowing rates high enough to cool growth, hiring and inflation yet not so much as to send the economy into a tailspin. Inflation touched a four-decade high in 2022 but has since edged steadily lower without the painful layoffs that most economists had thought would be necessary to slow the acceleration of prices.

The economy has repeatedly defied predictions that the Fed’s aggressive rate hikes would trigger a recession. Far from collapsing last year, the economy accelerated — expanding 2.5%, up from 1.9% in 2022.

“Our expectation is for a soft landing, and it looks like things are moving that way,’’ said Beth Ann Bovino, chief economist at U.S. Bank. Still, Bovino expects the economy to slow somewhat this year as higher rates weaken borrowing and spending.

“People are going to get squeezed,’’ she said.

The economy’s outlook had looked far bleaker a year ago. As recently as April 2023, an economic model published by the Conference Board, a business group, had pegged the likelihood of a U.S. recession over the next 12 months at close to 99%.

Even as inflation in the United States has slowed significantly, overall prices remain nearly 17% above where they were before the pandemic erupted three years ago, which has exasperated many Americans. That fact will likely raise a pivotal question for the nation’s voters, many of whom are still feeling the lingering financial and psychological effects of the worst bout of inflation in four decades. Which will carry more weight in the presidential election: The sharp drop in inflation or the fact that most prices are well above where they were three years ago?

The Fed began raising its benchmark rate in March 2022 in response to the resurgence in inflation that accompanied the economy’s recovery from the pandemic recession. By the time its hikes ended in July last year, the central bank had raised its influential rate from near zero to roughly 5.4%, the highest level since 2001.

As the Fed’s rate hikes worked their way through the economy, year-over-year inflation slowed from 9.1% in June 2022, the fastest rate in four decades, to 3.4% as of last month. That marked a striking improvement but still leaves that inflation measure above the Fed’s 2% target.

The progress so far has come at surprisingly little economic cost. Employers have added a healthy 225,000 jobs a month over the past year. And unemployment has remained below 4% for 23 straight months, the longest such streak since the 1960s.

The once red-hot job market has cooled somewhat, easing pressure on companies to raise pay to keep or attract employees and then pass on their higher labor costs to their customers through price hikes.

It’s happened in perhaps the least painful way: Employers are generally posting fewer job openings rather than laying off workers. That is partly because many companies are reluctant to risk losing workers after having been caught flat-footed when the economy roared back from the brief but brutal 2020 pandemic recession.

“Businesses are getting rid of job openings, but they’re holding onto workers,” Bovino said.

Another reason for the economy’s sturdiness is that consumers emerged from the pandemic in surprisingly good financial shape, partly because tens of millions of households had received government stimulus checks. As a result, many consumers have managed to keep spending even in the face of rising prices and high interest rates.

Some economists have suggested that the economy will weaken in the coming months as pandemic savings are exhausted, credit card use nears its limits and higher borrowing rates curtail spending. Still, the government reported last week that consumers stepped up their spending at retailers in December, an upbeat end to the holiday shopping season.

Credit card balances and rates were at record highs even before the recent solid holiday shopping season. And buy-now-pay-later plans, which let shoppers break up the cost of an item over time, have spiked.

With inputs from AP.

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4 Indians, three woman & a man, die in mass drowning at Australia's Philip Island beach

Four Indians, who were allegedly swimming at an unpatrolled location, died after drowning at the Phillip Island beach in Australia’s Victoria.

Among those who died in a mass drowning incident near Forrest Caves Beach in Melbourne were three woman and a man. One of the women was from Punjab’s Phagwara.

“Heart breaking tragedy in Australia: 4 Indians lost their lives in a drowning incident at Phillip Island, Victoria. Deepest condolences to families of the victims. The team of the Consulate General of India in Melbourne is in touch with friends of the deceased for all necessary assistance,” the Indian High Commission in Australia informed in a post on X.

Heart breaking tragedy in Australia: 4 Indians lost their lives in a drowning incident at Phillip Island, Victoria. Deepest condolences to families of the victims. @cgimelbourne team is in touch with friends of the deceased for all necessary assistance.@MEAIndia @DrSJaishankar

— India in Australia (@HCICanberra) January 25, 2024

According to news.com.au report, the victims - a man and two women in their 20s, and a woman in her 40s - were from an extended family and they were found unresponsive in the water on Wednesday afternoon.

The off duty lifeguard received distress calls around 3:30 pm (local time) on 24 January, reporting four individuals in distress in the water. "They tried desperately to save the group," the report added.

The man and two women died at the scene, while the third woman aged in her 20s was rushed to The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, police said. Later, she also succumbed to her injuries.

The 43-year-old woman who died of drowning was holidaying in Australia, Victoria Police Eastern Region Assistant Commissioner, Karen Nyholm said, adding that the other three victims lived in the Melbourne suburb of Clyde.

Emergency services are believing that the group was wading in the water before being caught in a rip.

Who are four Indians drowned in Australia?

As per a report in Punjab News Express, one of the deceased woman has been identified as one Reema, who is said to be the daughter-in-law of Phagwara industrialist Om Sondhi.

The report quoted former councillor Vijay Sondhi, elder brother of Om Sondhi, saying along with Reema, her husband Sanjeev and his brothers went to Australia for a vacation. Reema’s sister Suhani (22) and a brother, both residents of Solan in Himachal Pradesh, also drowned in the mishap. Sanjeev was however rescued by the local police, the report added.

The report also quoted police as saying it seemed to be a group of about 10 people.

Considered to be a famous tourist destination, Forrest Caves Beach is known for its sea caves, but has also earned a reputation among locals as a perilous swimming spot, devoid of lifeguard patrols.

With inputs from agencies

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Steadfast Defender 24: NATO begins biggest military exercise in decades

With the departure of a US warship on Wednesday, NATO commenced its largest military drill since the end of the Cold War, crossing the Atlantic to reach alliance territory in Europe.

About 90,000 soldiers will participate in the months-long Steadfast Defender 24 exercise, which is intended to test the Western military alliance’s defenses against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“The alliance will demonstrate its ability to reinforce the Euro-Atlantic area via trans-Atlantic movement of forces from North America,” said General Christopher Cavoli, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe.

“Steadfast Defender 2024 will be a clear demonstration of our unity, strength, and determination to protect each other, our values and the rules-based international order.”

The goal of the exercise is to mimic how the 31-nation alliance might react to an assault by an adversary like Russia.

It will extend from North America to NATO’s eastern flank, near the Russian border, and consist of a number of smaller, independent drills.

There will be roughly 1,100 military vehicles, 80 aircraft, and about 50 naval vessels participating.

The largest exercise since the Cold War-era Reforger exercise in 1988 is taking place while NATO is revamping its defenses in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

In order to defend itself against a Russian attack, the NATO alliance has sent thousands of troops to its eastern flank and developed the most comprehensive plans it has created since the fall of the Soviet Union.

(With agency inputs)

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Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra First Impressions: Impressive hardware, but it's all about Galaxy AI

Even though it has been just days since we started to put the newly launched Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra through its paces, Samsung’s newest flagship has already impressed us. While of course, it comes with some of the best specs and hardware that money can buy, this year around, its all about the ton of new AI features that Samsung is launching as part of its Galaxy AI.

Contrary to most other tech manufacturing companies who are jumping on the AI bandwagon to cash in on the latest tech buzzword, Galaxy AI brings a ton of noteworthy changes and features to the table.

Samsung says that their new AI features mean that the Galaxy S24 Ultra is a new way to think about a smartphone, and what a device as personal as the smartphone can do. For once, this may not be mere marketing fluff, but have some truth to it. We’ve had the chance to spend some time on the phone, and here are our first thoughts and impressions.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra First Impressions: The design
Even though the design of the new Galaxy S24 Ultra is quite similar to the previous model, there are some important changes to note.

The Galaxy S24 Ultra has this cool Titanium body that makes it super premium. It has a matte finish, and you can choose from different colours, making the phone feel strong and stylish.

Image Credit: Firstpost | Mehul Reuben Das

Even though the design hasn’t changed much, sticking to the same look isn’t a bad idea. It helps people recognize the brand, and it gives Samsung time to make small improvements for a better user experience.

The new Galaxy S24 Ultra has a flat display and tweaked side rails, making it easy to hold, and it feels surprisingly light, even though it’s a big phone.

The overall look isn’t drastically different from the previous version, but with the new colours and Titanium body, it feels different in a good way. The Galaxy S24 Ultra keeps things familiar but adds a touch of freshness, meeting what people expect from a modern phone.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra First Impressions: The hardware
The Galaxy S24 Ultra, similar to Apple’s iPhone 15 Pro Max, features a durable titanium build. Its flagship design is complemented by a generous 6.8-inch QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X display, delivering a smooth visual experience with a 120Hz refresh rate.

Under the hood, the Galaxy S24 Ultra comes with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, made using the 4nm lithography process. Plus, the device provides flexible memory and storage options, including configurations like 12GB with 1TB, 12GB with 512GB, or 12GB with 256GB.

Noteworthy among its features is the advanced camera system, boasting a 12MP ultra-wide camera with a wide 120-degree field of view, a substantial 200MP main camera with Optical Image Stabilization (OIS), and specialized telephoto cameras offering 5x and 3x optical zoom options. Additionally, the phone is equipped with a 12MP front-facing camera for impressive selfies.

Image Credit: Firstpost | Mehul Reuben Das

Powering the device is a robust 5,000mAh battery, and the inclusion of wired charging, utilizing a 45W Adapter, enables users to attain a significant 60-70 per cent charge in just half an hour.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra First Impressions: Its all about AI
The standout feature of this handset is its AI capabilities, and what makes it unique is that Samsung does not heavily rely on the cloud or require an internet connection for most of its functions, but rather does most of its work on the device itself.

Samsung is calling its advanced intelligence, Galaxy AI, and it marks the first time a device combines a large language model and generative AI. The primary source of power for Galaxy AI is Google’s Gemini AI.

One of the most fascinating AI features is Live Translate. This feature can translate conversations in real time. Imagine talking to someone, and Live Translate instantly translates your words, conveying them to the other person without delay.

It’s quite a mind-boggling feature, and while it seems like a simple innovation, it’s one that many feel should have happened a long time ago. Additionally, there’s a Samsung Notes feature that can summarize, transcribe, and translate content, most of which, are done on the device itself.

Another intriguing feature is Circle to Search, allowing you to perform a Google search for anything by simply circling the object, even in videos. These AI capabilities showcase Samsung’s commitment to innovation, bringing practical and offline-friendly features to users, making the Galaxy S24 Ultra stand out among other smartphones.

Then, there is the entire set of features on AI-based photo and video shooting, and editing.

One standout feature is Generative Edit, which smoothly fills in space when you ask it to move or delete a selected area.

Image Credit: Firstpost | Mehul Reuben Das

Another notable feature is the Instant Slow-mo capability. With the Galaxy S24 series, you can add the slow-motion effect after recording the video, making it much more convenient and enjoyable. This feature is a significant improvement over recording everything in slow-motion video mode and allows for easy sharing on social media.

In my perspective, the upgrades introduced by Samsung in the new S24 Ultra model are both practical and revolutionary. Instead of addressing non-existent problems, the focus is on finding solutions for existing challenges.

Notably, Samsung’s commendable effort to integrate AI into smartphones is a significant step forward in technological innovation. Stay tuned for an upcoming detailed review of the S24 lineup, promising insights into the phone’s overall performance and features.

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Donald Trump wins New Hampshire's Republican primary, rematch with Joe Biden likely in November 2024 US polls

Former United States President Donald Trump has sealed his victory in New Hampshire’s Republican presidential primary election and now heads towards a likely November rematch with Democratic President Joe Biden.

With his win in New Hampshire, Trump has further asserted his dominance over the Republican Party.

However, despite this setback, Trump’s primary adversary and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, remains steadfast and told her supporters at a primary night party in Concord: “This race is far from over.”

Haley congratulated Trump but vowed to fight and challenged him to debate her.

Trump’s victory in New Hampshire, after a win in Iowa, marks a historic sweep not witnessed since 1976. Also, he is the first non-incumbent Republican presidential candidate to win both the Iowa Caucus and the New Hampshire primary back-to-back.

It is also worth mentioning that Trump is the only Republican candidate to have won the New Hampshire primary thrice.

With 16 per cent of the expected vote tallied, according to Edison, Trump had 53.2 per cent compared with 45.3 per cent for Haley, who had hoped the Northeastern state’s sizable cadre of independent voters would carry her to an upset win that might loosen Trump’s iron grip on the Republican Party.

Trump will also become the first Republican to sweep competitive votes in both Iowa – where he won by a record-setting margin eight days ago – and New Hampshire since 1976, when the two states cemented their status as the first nominating contests.

New Hampshire was the first contest to feature a one-on-one matchup between Trump and Haley, after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, once seen as Trump’s most formidable challenger, dropped out on Sunday and endorsed Trump.

In a statement, the Trump campaign asked Haley to drop out of the race. Haley does not have a path to victory. Instead, if Haley stays in the race, she will play an active role in advancing the re-election of Harris-Biden, it said.

Haley, who finished third in Iowa just behind DeSantis, said she’s running to stop the re-election of Harris-Biden.

The next contest is scheduled for 24 February in South Carolina, where Haley was born and served two terms as governor. Despite her ties, Trump has racked up endorsements from most of the state’s Republican figures, and opinion polls show him with a wide lead.

With inputs from agencies

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Israel proposes 2-month ceasefire in Gaza for release of all hostages: Report

According to Axios, Israel has suggested to Hamas, through Qatari and Egyptian mediators, a two-month cease-fire as part of an agreement to rescue all captives held in Gaza.

According to the article, which cites anonymous Israeli officials, the plan would be implemented in phases, with the first including the release of women, males over the age of 60, and those in serious medical condition.

Subsequent phases would include the release of female troops, younger civilian males, male soldiers, and the remains of deceased hostages.

Officials claimed the arrangement will also result in the release of an undisclosed number of Palestinian detainees detained in Israel, but not all of them.

The plan calls for Israeli soldiers to withdraw from key Gazan cities and to progressively enable people to return to the region’s damaged north, but it makes no assurances about ending the conflict.

According to the officials, the agreement should be implemented in about two months.

The plan was also covered by the Israeli publication Ynet, which cited anonymous sources and said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had made mention of it at a Monday meeting with the families of the captives.

The idea was made public just as US media reported that Brett McGurk, the White House’s Middle East coordinator, was scheduled to visit the area for discussions in Egypt and Qatar with the goal of negotiating a fresh prisoner swap agreement.

About 250 hostages were taken during Hamas’s bloody October 7 attacks, and Israel says around 132 remain in Gaza.

That includes the bodies of at least 28 dead hostages, according to an AFP count based on Israeli data.

The October 7 attacks resulted in the deaths of about 1,140 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

In response, Israel launched a relentless offensive that has killed at least 25,295 people in Gaza, around 70 percent of them women, children and adolescents, according to Hamas-run Gaza’s health ministry.

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Russia's FM Lavrov talks Middle East with Iran, Turkey, Lebanon

In order to address the Middle East, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met with his counterparts from Iran, Turkey, and Lebanon on Tuesday before the UN Security Council meeting, according to the Russian foreign ministry.

The topics of discussion at the bilateral discussions were “the tense situation” in the Red Sea, Syria, and the Gaza Strip, the ministry said on Tuesday via the messaging app Telegram. On Monday, the meetings were held in New York.

Lavrov and Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the foreign minister of Iran, reached a consensus, according to the ministry, about the necessity of an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the prerequisites for delivering humanitarian supplies to people.

“General concern was expressed about the tense situation in the Red Sea, which has sharply degraded,” it said.

On Monday, the United States and Britain carried out an additional round of strikes against Yemen’s Houthis over their targeting of Red Sea shipping, the Pentagon said.

Lavrov and Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib talked about the importance of collective efforts of countries in the region toward an immediate ceasefire, the ministry said.

Israel in recent days carried out reportedly the most intense bombardment in southern Gaza since the war began in October, prompting calls from Washington to protect innocent people in hospitals, medical staff and patients.

According to the UN agenda, the Security Council is to discuss “the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question.”

Lavrov said on Thursday he will propose “collective efforts” at the meeting to solve the Middle East crisis.

With his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan, Lavrov also discussed energy issues as well as “upcoming bilateral contacts.”

In December, the Kremlin said that Russian President Vladimir Putin may visit Turkey in early 2024.

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China: Several killed, dozens missing as landslide strikes Yunnan province

At least seven people were murdered and 40 others went missing when a landslide struck southwest China’s hilly Yunnan province on Monday.

At 5:51 a.m. Beijing time, the calamity rocked Zhaotong City’s Liangshui village, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.

Seven people were confirmed dead and 40 others remain missing in the landslide, the report said.

The 47 victims are from 18 different households, rescue officials said.

Over 500 residents were evacuated from the landslide-hit areas as the provincial commission for disaster reduction activated a Level-III emergency response for disaster relief, state-run CCTV reported.

Official media claimed that efforts are underway to free those buried by the landslide.

At the scene, 120 vehicles, including loaders, excavators, and transport vehicles, as well as 795 rescue personnel outfitted with one drone are performing search and rescue operations. To help in the hunt for the missing, up to 33 fire engines and ten loading cranes have been called into service.

In addition, there have been 14 sets of emergency lighting equipment, 400 quilts, 200 cotton coats, and more than 100 tents.

In order to find and save the victims who went missing in the landslide, Chinese President Xi Jinping issued an order.

In response to the wave of cold weather that swept across southern China just three weeks before the Lunar New Year, Xi, the general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, urged party cadres to keep an eye out for other natural disaster risks and hidden dangers “to effectively ensure the safety of people’s lives and property”.

In addition, Chinese Premier Li Qiang issued an order for a full-scale rescue operation in Liangshui and emphasized the importance of preserving social order given the region’s high elevation and ethnic diversity.

“It is necessary to promptly evacuate the threatened population, handle resettlement properly, effectively ensure the safety of people’s lives and property, and maintain overall social stability,” Li was quoted as saying by the official media.

It was not immediately clear what caused the landslide.

Tuesday is likely to bring moderate snowfall to the town, with a low of -3 degrees Celsius predicted per the local weather prediction.

(With agency inputs)

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Israel greets people of India on auspicious occasion of Ayodhya Ram temple consecration ceremony

Ahead of consecration ceremony of Ram Mandir in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya, Israel conveyed greeting to the people of India, calling it a historic moment for devotees across the world.

The much-awaited ‘Pran Pratishtha’ or consecration ceremony at Ram temple will be held in Ayodhya on Monday in a grand ceremony with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi attending the rituals.

The consecration ceremony will begin at 12:20 pm (IST) and is expected to end by 01:00 pm (IST). PM Modi will then address a gathering of more than 7,000 people, including seers and prominent personalities, at the venue.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Israeli Ambassador to India Naor Gilon wrote in Hindi and said: “Hearty greetings to the people of India on this auspicious occasion of Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha. This is a historic moment for devotees across the world.”

“I look forward to seeing Ram Mandir in Ayodhya soon; surely it will be more grand and beautiful than this model I have,” Gilon further said, sharing a picture of him with a miniature model of the Ram Mandir.

#राममंदिरप्राणप्रतिष्ठा के इस शुभ अवसर पर भारत के लोगों को हार्दिक शुभकामनाएं। यह दुनिया भर के भक्तों के लिए एक ऐतिहासिक क्षण है।

मैं #अयोध्या में #राममंदिर के जल्द दर्शन के लिए उत्सुक हूं; यकीनन वह मेरे पास मौजूद इस मॉडल से भी अधिक भव्य और सुंदर होगा।#RamMandir… pic.twitter.com/EXhgyftoxj

— Naor Gilon (@NaorGilon) January 22, 2024

On 18 January, Ram Lalla's idol was installed in the sanctum sanctorum of the grand new temple. Aushadhivas, Kesaradhivas, Ghritadhivas were organised on 19 January, Dhanyadhivas on 19 January, Sugardhivas, Fruitdhivas, Pushpadhivas on 20 January and Madhyadhivas and Shayadhivas on 21 January.

The 'Pran Pratishtha' of the idol of Ram Lalla -- the childhood form of Lord Ram -- on Monday (22 January, 2024) will be attended by people from all walks of life, including representatives of major spiritual and religious sects of the country, representatives of various tribal communities and prominent personalities.

Along with PM Modi, RSS Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat, Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and other dignitaries will be present on the occasion.

Special guests from cricket world, film world, saint society, politics, art, literature and culture and other fields have also been invited for the ceremony.

With inputs from agencies

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