PM Modi meets Meera Manjhi at her house during Ayodhya tour, who is she?
Who is Meera Manjhi whose house was visited by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his Ayodhya tour amid the last stage of preparations for the Ayodhya temple?
Rajasthan Cabinet Expansion: Rajyavardhan Rathore, Kirodi Lal Meena among 22 MLAs sworn in as ministers; check full list
The swearing-in ceremony of the council of ministers took place after Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma met Governor Kalraj Mishra and sought permission for cabinet expansion.
Gujarat plans to launch the nation’s first tourism submarine in Dwarka
Gujarat plans to provide a submarine service to assist visitors in discovering the underwater world of Dwarka
Deadly snake halts play at Australia tennis tournament
Austrian Dominic Thiem’s match suspended for 40 minutes after reptile slithered its way courtside. He won the qualifier. Former US Open champion Dominic Thiem had to face a tough battle during his qualifying tennis match at the Brisbane International – and also one of Australia’s most venomous snakes. Thiem’s match against Australian James McCabe was suspended for 40 minutes on Saturday after a snake slithered courtside. It was spotted by fans near the courtside electrical wires, prompting officials to call in security staff and stop play, as McCabe had just wrapped up the first set 6-2 against the 2020 US Open champion. A professional snake catcher was summoned to snare the 50cm (20-inch) reptile and tease it into a bag. It was identified as an eastern brown snake and one of Australia’s most deadly reptiles. “I really love animals, especially exotic ones,” Thiem said. “But they said it was a really poisonous snake and it was close to the ball kids, so it was a really dangerous situation.” The former world number three told reporters after the match: “It’s something that has never happened to me and is something I’ll definitely never forget.” Thiem, currently ranked no 98 after several years grappling with a wrist injury, was not yet out of danger when play resumed. He had to save three match points before winning the second set tiebreak. The 30-year-old then went on to clinch the deciding set for a 2-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4 win. Thiem reached the final of the Australian Open in 2020 when he pushed the Serbian champion Novak Djokovic to five sets, and won the US Open later that year. The Brisbane International is a tune-up event to the year’s first Grand Slam, the Australian Open, which begins on January 14 in Melbourne. Former world number one Rafael Nadal will return to tennis – after almost a year on the sidelines because of a lingering hip injury – in Brisbane on Sunday when he plays a doubles match alongside Marc Lopez, whom he partnered with in 2016 to claim an Olympic gold medal. Nadal, a 22-time Grand Slam champion, drew a qualifier in the singles draw as he gears up for the first stop of what could be his farewell tour. The 37-year-old Spaniard, who has won the French Open a record 14 times, had to pull out of that event in May because of his injury. Adblock test (Why?)
Passengers chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ as first flight to Ayodhya takes off from Delhi: Watch
IndiGo pilot captain Ashutosh Shekhar welcoming passengers onboard the Ayodhya-bound flight
US prosecutors opt out of second trial for crypto tycoon Sam Bankman-Fried
Prosecutors cite ‘strong public interest’ for resolving major case against disgraced crypto exchange founder. United States prosecutors have chosen not to pursue a second trial for FTX cryptocurrency exchange founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who has already been found guilty of fraud and money laundering, and proceed instead to sentencing. Prosecutors said in a letter filed in a New York court on Friday that pursuing a second trial for the disgraced tycoon would only serve to delay the case against him, which is already strong enough. “Given that practical reality, and the strong public interest in a prompt resolution of this matter, the Government intends to proceed to sentencing on the counts for which the defendant was convicted at trial,” prosecutors said in the letter to Judge Lewis Kaplan, who presided over Bankman-Fried’s first criminal trial last year. In November, a jury found Bankman-Fried guilty of seven counts of fraud, embezzlement and criminal conspiracy, among other charges. The 31-year-old was accused of using billions of dollars from customer deposits on FTX to cover losses at his hedge fund, pay off loans and buy luxury real estate, among other large personal expenses. At the trial, he had admitted to making “mistakes” that ended up hurting people, but pleaded not guilty to the charges as he claimed he never meant to steal. Billions of dollars were lost after Bankman-Fried’s crimes came to light in 2022, something that also contributed to deepening a crypto market downturn that had started earlier that year. Federal prosecutors have previously described the case as “one of the biggest financial frauds in American history”. Bankman-Fried is slated to be sentenced on March 28, when he could face up to 110 years in prison. Prosecutors argued that much of the evidence that could be offered at a second trial was already presented at the first trial, and that a second trial would not affect how much time he could face in prison. They also said victims would not benefit from forfeiture or restitution orders if sentencing is delayed. Bankman-Fried is expected to file an appeal against his conviction. He was previously extradited from the Bahamas, where his companies were based. The US and the Bahamas have since been clashing over which country’s prosecutors have the legal jurisdiction and right to prosecute him. US prosecutors on Friday wrote that the US government “does not have a timeline for when the Bahamas may respond to its request”. Bankman-Fried, a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has been in jail since August, and had his bail revoked after a judge concluded that he had likely tampered with prospective trial witnesses. Adblock test (Why?)
Brazil urges calm as Venezuela-Guyana border tension rises over Essequibo
A British warship arrives for defence exercises with Guyana as Venezuela launches war games near contested region. Brazil has called for “restraint” as tensions flared in a territorial dispute between Venezuela and Guyana, with Caracas launching a major military exercise near the contested, oil-rich Essequibo region. “The Brazilian government is following the latest developments in the dispute surrounding the Essequibo region with concern,” said a statement from the foreign ministry on Friday. “The Brazilian government believes military demonstrations of support to either party should be avoided so that the ongoing dialogue process can produce results.” A British warship, the HMS Trent, also arrived in Guyana on Friday afternoon amid rising tensions, for open sea defence exercises in its former colony. The UK’s defence ministry has said that the ship is visiting Guyana as part of a series of engagements in the region and that the vessel will conduct training exercises with Guyana’s military. On its X account, the ship posted photos of sailors welcoming Britain’s ambassador to Guyana and the chief of staff of Guyana’s Defence Force, Brigadier General Omar Khan. They were also hosted at a formal lunch and provided with a tour of the ship’s capabilities. Today we were privileged to welcome onboard the Chief Of Defence Staff for Guyana, Brigadier Omar Khan, the British High Commissioner to Guyana, Mrs Jane Miller OBE, and a number of other dignitaries. @RoyalNavy @Janemiller37 #TeamTrent #FwdDeployed pic.twitter.com/jWE5jGK8Dp — HMS Trent (@HMSTrent) December 29, 2023 The HMS Trent’s visit, however, led Venezuela to begin military exercises a day earlier in the eastern Caribbean near its border with Guyana as the Venezuelan government presses its claim to a huge swath of its smaller neighbour. Venezuela has for decades laid claim to Essequibo, claiming that the Essequibo river to the region’s east forms a natural border and has historically been recognised as such. President Nicolas Maduro’s government also held a controversial referendum on December 3 in which 95 percent of voters, according to officials, supported declaring Venezuela the rightful owner of Essequibo. He has since started legal manoeuvres to create a Venezuelan province in Essequibo and ordered the state oil company to issue licences for extracting crude in the region. The rising tensions have raised fears in the region of a potential conflict over the remote area of 160,000 square kilometres (62,000 square miles). However, Guyana, of which Essequibo makes up more than two-thirds and hosts 125,000 of its 800,000 citizens, has administered the territory since the frontiers were determined by an arbitration panel in 1899. Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has emerged as a peace broker of sorts, determined to prevent the current war of words over the disputed Essequibo region from escalating into something deadlier. “If there’s one thing we don’t want, it’s a war in South America,” he said earlier this month. The Brazilian statement called for both parties to respect an agreement reached after Maduro and Guyana President Irfaan Ali met in the Caribbean, where they promised not to resort to force to settle the dispute. Adblock test (Why?)
‘They ordered me to undress’: From Nigeria to Italy, surviving rape
Twenty-five-year-old Naomi Iwelu is now settled, living in a room in the centre of Catania, Sicily. Here she recounts the robberies, betrayals and rape she experienced on her journey from Benin, Nigeria. It was her mother’s death, four years after her father’s, that prompted Naomi to quit school and leave Benin in 2018. As the eldest of six children, all now orphans, continuing her education beyond secondary school was an impossibility. “We couldn’t afford the expenses to continue my studies,” Naomi tells Al Jazeera, “so I started working in bars, restaurants and cleaning.” However, the family’s living conditions deteriorated. Leaving Nigeria to start a new life in Europe became an ever more considered option. “I got in touch with a friend who was living in Libya at the time,” she says. “We had attended the same school, but we had lost contact with each other. I found her contact on Facebook. She was the one who convinced me to leave Nigeria and said that she would help me to do so.” Naomi was told the trip would cost about 4,000 euros ($4,370), far more than she could raise. “I asked my boyfriend at the time for money to help my sister. I lied to him,” she says. “That’s how I sent the money to my friend in Libya, and that’s how the journey started.” She set out as part of a group organised by the contact her friend had provided. Today, she struggles to remember the number of people, only that there were “a lot”. “We spent two weeks in the desert,” she recalls. “There was barely any water for us, and many things happened.” Prompted for details, Naomi becomes silent, speaking volumes. Eventually, she arrived in Tripoli, Libya’s capital, where she stayed for six months, finding cleaning work in a local man’s house. One day on returning home, Naomi found two local men waiting for her. “They were holding a knife. They threatened me and asked for money. But I did not speak Arabic well. I did not understand. Then they ordered me to undress. That’s how they both raped me,” she says. Despite the experience, Naomi had no option but to continue her work, eventually raising the money for her passage to Europe. “The journey was extremely hard. There were many of us in a rubber dinghy,” she says, describing how she had been sick throughout the crossing. After reaching Lampedusa, the Italian doctors who examined her told her she was pregnant. “I didn’t know I was pregnant. It was so painful for me,” she says. “I wanted to study, and for that, I had to get [an] abortion. I didn’t want the baby.” Naomi was eventually able to secure an abortion, and now, having graduated from an Italian school, she works in a restaurant a few steps away from Via Etnea, Catania’s central street. She remains in regular contact with her family in Nigeria and sends them what money she can. “I miss them a lot, but I don’t want them to make the same journey as me and experience what I experienced,” she says. This article is the fifth of a five-part series of portraits of refugees from different countries, with diverse backgrounds, bound by shared fears and hopes as they enter 2024. Read the first, second, third and fourth parts here. Adblock test (Why?)
‘Whole world is waiting for Jan 22’s historic moment,’ says PM Modi during Ayodhya visit
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate Ram mandir on the 22nd of January.
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 675
As the war enters its 675th day, these are the main developments. Here is the situation on Saturday, December 30, 2023. Fighting and human impact Ukrainian officials have said that at least 30 people have been killed and more than 140 wounded after Russia targeted cities across the war-torn country with a massive salvo of missiles and drones in one of the largest aerial assaults of the war. Russia’s defence ministry has said its forces downed 32 Ukrainian drones over the Bryansk, Oryol, Kursk and Moscow regions overnight. Polish military authorities have said that a Russian missile briefly passed through the country’s airspace on Friday, prompting concern from the country that borders Ukraine. Diplomacy The United Nations Security Council has criticised Russia for carrying out a massive air assault on Ukraine at a meeting on Friday. But Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, said that Moscow had “exclusively only targeted military infrastructure in Ukraine”. The Polish Foreign Ministry has summoned Russian charge d’affaires Andrei Ordasz after a Russian missile entered Polish airspace during the morning attack against Ukraine. Adblock test (Why?)