Author: Disha Mishra

PRAYAGRAJ, India, Jan 14 (Reuters) – Naked Hindu ascetics smeared in holy ash charged into the waters of sacred rivers in India on Tuesday, part of a large crowd of 35 million devotees who took the holy dip on the second day of the Maha Kumbh Mela, or Great Pitcher Festival, seeking absolution from their sins. The “royal bath” of the ascetics is a key part of the event, held every 12 years in the northern city of Prayagraj, because Hindus believe it confers salvation from the cycle of birth and death, in addition to the absolution of sins. Thousands…

WASHINGTON, Jan 14 (Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday that it has deleted malware planted on more than 4,200 computers by a group of criminal hackers who were backed by the People’s Republic of China. The malware, known as “PlugX,” affected thousands of computers around the globe and was used to infect and steal information, the department said. Investigators said the malware was installed by a band of hackers who are known by the names “Mustang Panda” and “Twill Typhoon.” In court records filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, prosecutors allege…

STILFONTEIN, South Africa, Jan 14 (Reuters) – South African rescuers have pulled out 36 dead bodies and 82 survivors from a gold mine deep underground in two days of operations, police said on Tuesday, adding that the survivors would all face illegal mining and immigration charges. Police began laying siege to the mine in August and cut off food and water supplies in an attempt to force the miners to the surface so they could be arrested as part of a crackdown on illegal mining. Hundreds more men and dozens more bodies are still trapped underground, according to a miners’…

WASHINGTON, Jan 14 (Reuters) – The United States has banned imports from another tranche of companies over alleged human rights abuses involving the Uyghurs in China, targeting 37 textile, mining and solar entities, a federal government notice published on Tuesday said. The companies include Huafu Fashion Co., one of the world’s largest textile manufacturers, and 25 of its subsidiaries. The companies were added to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List, which restricts the import of goods tied to what the U.S. describes as China’s human rights abuses and ongoing genocide in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. U.S. authorities…

BEIJING, Jan 14 (Reuters) – The annual travel rush for China’s Lunar New Year celebrations officially began on Tuesday, with many taking a mental break from their worries about the future to reunite with family or take a holiday. The peak travel season in the world’s second-largest economy kicked off with a train departing from Beijing minutes after midnight, taking early bird travellers from the capital to Hefei in eastern Anhui province. Most people aim to be with family for the traditional reunion dinner on the eve of the New Year, which falls on Jan. 29 this year. The 40-day…

DOHA/CAIRO/JERUSALEM, Jan 14 (Reuters) – Negotiators were meeting in Qatar on Tuesday hoping to finalise details of a plan to end the war in Gaza, after U.S. President Joe Biden indicated a ceasefire and hostage release deal was close, after 15 months of conflict that upended the Middle East. More than eight hours of talks in Doha had fuelled optimism. Officials from mediators Qatar, Egypt and the U.S. as well as Israel and Hamas said on Tuesday that an agreement for a truce in the besieged Palestinian enclave and the release of hostages was closer than ever. Qatar’s foreign ministry…

LOS ANGELES, Jan 14 (Reuters) – Los Angeles firefighters braced on Tuesday for a new round of intense winds that could fuel two monstrous wildfires that have already killed at least 24 people, leveled entire neighborhoods and scorched an area the size of Washington, D.C. Much of Los Angeles and Ventura County could experience wind gusts of 50 to 70 mph from early Tuesday through Wednesday as dry Santa Ana winds picked up after relative calm last week, according to the National Weather Service. It declared a red flag warning, meaning the situation was dangerous and could ignite new fires…

JERUSALEM, Jan 14 (Reuters) – Israeli far-right police minister Itamar Ben-Gvir threatened on Tuesday to quit Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government if he agrees to a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal being negotiated at talks in Qatar. Ben-Gvir, whose departure would not bring down Netanyahu’s government, urged Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to join him in a last-ditch attempt to prevent a ceasefire deal, which he described as a dangerous capitulation to Hamas. “This move is our only chance to prevent (the deal’s) execution, and prevent Israel’s surrender to Hamas, after more than a year of bloody war, in which…

BEIRUT, Jan 14 (Reuters) – Lebanon’s Prime Minister-designate Nawaf Salam said on Tuesday his hands are extended to everyone, in a gesture to the Iran-backed Hezbollah group that accused opponents of seeking to exclude it by nominating him for the post. Salam, nominated by a majority of Lebanese lawmakers on Monday, said he opposed exclusion and supported unity. “This is my sincere call, and my hands are extended to everyone,” he said. Salam, who was serving as president of the International Court of Justice before his designation as prime minister, cited priorities including rebuilding Lebanon from last year’s devastating war…

KOCHI, India, Jan 14 (Reuters) – Police in India’s southern state of Kerala have arrested 44 men accused of raping an 18-year-old girl over a period of five years, a police official said on Tuesday, in a case that has shocked the coastal tourist resort. The victim, an athlete who belongs to the so-called lower caste community known as Dalits, told police in a statement that she was sexually abused by 62 people over a period of five years. Police have identified 58 of those men, some of whom are minors and arrested 44 over the last two days, officials…