Karnataka: At least 9 burnt alive after passenger bus collides with lorry, engulfs in fire in Chitradurga, here’s what we know so far
At least 9 people died in a tragic incident after a passenger bus catches fire after collision with a lorry in Karnataka’s Chitradurga.
UP SHOCKER: Teacher at Aligarh Muslim University shot dead after two unidentified men fired multiple bullets in his head, investigation underway
In a shocking incident from Uttar Pradesh, a teacher at Aligarh Muslim University was shot in the head by unknown miscreants. As per some reports, multiple bullets were fired. The deceased man is identified as Rao Danish Ali, who was a teacher at the ABK School of the university.
BIG relief for Delhi-NCR residents: Air quality shows slight improvement but stays in ‘poor’ category, AQI reaches…; Check area-wise pollution level
Delhi’s air quality improved on Thursday with the AQI dropping to 221, though it remained in the ‘poor’ category, CPCB data showed. Several areas recorded moderate air quality. Following the improvement, CAQM revoked Stage-IV of GRAP citing favourable weather conditions.
Good News for Delhi-NCR residents: Greater Noida to Faridabad in just 30 minutes, THIS bridge to cut short travel time, check here to know details
The Manjhawali bridge road project linking Greater Noida and Faridabad will move ahead with foundation laying on December 26.
Bangladesh Violence: ISKCON Vice President Radharaman Das makes SHOCKING claims after Hindu homes set on fire, says, ‘doors were locked…, trapped inside…’
In another horrific attack on Hindu minorities, two homes of Hindu families were set on fire in Bangladesh’s Chittagong. Talking about the violence against Hindus in Bangladesh and their houses being set ablaze, ISKCON Kolkata Vice President Radharaman Das has made shocking claims.
Massive explosion in Mosque in Nigera’s Maiduguri during evening prayers, dozens killed
An explosion tore through a mosque in the northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, during evening prayers, killing several worshippers, according to local media reports.
Nearly 20 states sue HHS over declaration to restrict gender transition treatment for minors
A group of 19 Democrat-led states and Washington, D.C., filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over a declaration that aims to restrict gender transition treatment for minors. The lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; its secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.; and its inspector general comes after the declaration issued last week described treatments such as puberty blockers, hormone therapy and gender surgeries as unsafe and ineffective for children experiencing gender dysphoria. The declaration also warned doctors they could be excluded from federal health programs, including Medicare and Medicaid, if they provide these treatments to minors. The move seeks to build on President Donald Trump’s executive order in January calling on HHS to protect children from “chemical and surgical mutilation.” HHS UNLEASHES SWEEPING CRACKDOWN ON CHILD ‘SEX-REJECTING PROCEDURES,’ THREATENS HOSPITAL, MEDICAID FUNDING “We are taking six decisive actions guided by gold standard science and the week one executive order from President Trump to protect children from chemical and surgical mutilation,” Kennedy said during a press conference last week. HHS has also proposed new rules designed to further block gender transition treatment for minors, although the lawsuit does not address the rules, which have yet to be finalized. The states’ lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Eugene, Oregon, argues that the declaration is inaccurate and unlawful and urges the court to prevent it from being enforced. “Secretary Kennedy cannot unilaterally change medical standards by posting a document online, and no one should lose access to medically necessary health care because their federal government tried to interfere in decisions that belong in doctors’ offices,” New York Attorney General Letitia James, who led the lawsuit, said in a statement. The lawsuit claims the declaration attempts to pressure providers into ending gender transition treatment for young people and circumvent legal requirements for policy changes. The complaint said federal law requires the public be given notice and an opportunity to comment before substantively amending health policy and that neither of these were done before the declaration was released. The declaration based its conclusions on a peer-reviewed report that the department conducted earlier this year that called for more reliance on behavioral therapy rather than broad gender transition treatment for minors with gender dysphoria. The report raised questions about standards for the treatment of transgender children issued by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health and brought concerns that youths may be too young to give consent to life-changing treatments that could result in future infertility. Major medical groups and physicians who treat transgender children have criticized the report as inaccurate. HHS also announced last week two proposed federal rules — one to cut off federal Medicaid and Medicare funding from hospitals that offer gender transition treatment to children and another to block federal Medicaid money from being used for these procedures. HOUSE APPROVES MTG-SPONSORED BILL TO CRIMINALIZE GENDER TRANSITION TREATMENT FOR MINORS The proposals have not yet been made final and are not legally binding because they must go through a lengthy rulemaking process and public comment before they can be enforced. Several major medical providers have already pulled back on gender transition treatment for youths since Trump returned to office, even those in Democrat-led states where the procedures are legal under state law. Medicaid programs in just under half of states currently cover gender transition treatment. At least 27 states have adopted laws restricting or banning the treatment, and the Supreme Court’s decision this year upholding Tennessee’s ban likely means other state laws will remain in place. Democrat attorneys general from California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin, Washington state and Washington, D.C., as well as Pennsylvania’s Democrat governor, joined James in the lawsuit. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Syria says key ISIL leader Taha al-Zoubi captured near Damascus
Syrian officials confirm the arrest of ISIL leader Taha al-Zoubi in a security operation near Damascus. Published On 24 Dec 202524 Dec 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Syria’s Ministry of Interior has announced the arrest of Taha al-Zoubi, a leading figure in the ISIL (ISIS) group, in the Damascus countryside, the country’s SANA news agency reported. The report said a “tightly executed security operation” was carried out that led to the arrest of al-Zoubi, adding that “a suicide belt and a military weapon were seized in his possession”. SANA quoted Brigadier General Ahmad al-Dalati, head of internal security in the Damascus countryside, as saying the raid targeted an ISIL hideout in Maadamiya, southwest of Damascus, and was carried out “in cooperation” with an anti-ISIL alliance that includes the United States-led coalition fighting the group. The US Central Command (CENTCOM) has not publicly confirmed the operation. Al-Dalati said al-Zoubi, also known as Abu Omar Tibiya, served as the group’s “wali”,or governor, of Damascus and that several alleged aides were also detained. The official added that the arrest dealt a “crippling blow” to ISIL networks in the capital region and showed the “readiness of the security apparatus”. “We send a clear message to anyone who dares to engage in the project of terrorism or lend support to ISIS: The hand of justice will reach them wherever they are,” al-Dalati said. ISIL, which views the new government in Damascus as illegitimate, has mainly concentrated its activities against Kurdish forces in the north. At its peak, ISIL ruled an area half the size of the United Kingdom, spanning across Iraq and Syria, with Raqqa in the latter being the capital of the armed group’s self-declared “caliphate”. Advertisement The group was notorious for its brutality, carrying out massacres of Syrians and Iraqis and beheadings of foreign captives. ISIL was defeated in Iraq in 2017 and in Syria two years later, but its fighters and cadres of armed group members still carry out deadly attacks in both countries and elsewhere, including in Africa and Afghanistan. Adblock test (Why?)
Explosion rocks crowded mosque in Nigeria, killing several people: Reports
The blast tore through a mosque in Maiduguri as worshippers gathered for evening prayers, witnesses say. By News Agencies Published On 24 Dec 202524 Dec 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share An explosion has ripped through a mosque in northeastern Nigeria as worshippers gathered for their evening prayers, killing and wounding several people, according to media reports. The blast took place at about 6pm on Wednesday (17:00 GMT) in the city of Maiduguri in Borno State, the Reuters and AFP news agencies reported, citing witnesses. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list Police spokesman Nahum Daso confirmed the explosion and told AFP that an explosive ordnance team was already on site at the mosque in Maiduguri’s Gamboru market. There was no official word on casualties. But mosque leader Malam Abuna Yusuf told the AFP at least eight people had died, while a militia leader, Babakura Kolo, put the figure at seven. Another witness, Musa Yusha’u, told AFP that he saw “many victims being taken away for medical treatment”. The cause of the blast was not immediately known, but it occurred in a city that has been at the heart of an armed rebellion waged by Boko Haram and ISIL’s (ISIS) offshoot in the region, the Islamic State West Africa Province, for nearly two decades. The conflict has killed at least 40,000 people and displaced about two million from their homes since 2009, according to the United Nations. Though the violence has waned since its peak about a decade ago, it has spilt into neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon. Concerns are also growing about a resurgence of violence in parts of the northeast, where armed groups remain capable of mounting deadly attacks despite years of sustained military operations. Advertisement Maiduguri itself – once the scene of nightly gun battles and bombings – has been calm in recent years, with the last major attack recorded in 2021. Adblock test (Why?)
Trump-backed conservative Nasry Asfura wins Honduras election: Authorities
Asfura says he is ready to govern after narrow vote as the US urges ‘all parties to respect the confirmed results’. Nasry Asfura, a conservative candidate backed by United States President Donald Trump, has won the closely contested presidential elections in Honduras, the country’s election council has said. The final results, announced on Wednesday – more than 20 days after the vote took place – are likely to lead to challenges in the Central American nation. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list According to the electoral authority, known as the CNE, Asfura won 40.3 percent of the vote, edging out centre-right Liberal Party candidate Salvador Nasralla, who received 39.5 percent. In a brief social media post, Asfura thanked the CNE on Wednesday. “Honduras: I am prepared to govern. I will not fail you,” he wrote. Trump had come out strongly in support of Asfura, attacking Nasralla and left-wing candidate Rixi Moncada, who ended up garnering less than 20 percent of the votes. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was quick to congratulate Asfura on Wednesday, saying that Washington looks forward to working with him. “The people of Honduras have spoken: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ next president,” Rubio wrote in a social media post. In a separate statement, Rubio urged “all parties to respect the confirmed results” of the elections. Earlier this month, Trump pardoned former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez – a member of Asfura’s National Party – who was serving a lengthy prison sentence in the US for drug trafficking. Asfura, the former mayor of Honduras’s capital, Tegucigalpa, is of Palestinian descent. But his National Party is staunchly pro-Israel. Advertisement Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Wednesday that he spoke to Asfura and the officials agreed to “strengthen bilateral relations” between the two countries. “I conveyed our warm wishes to the people of Honduras, wished him success in his role, and invited him to visit Israel,” Saar said in a statement. “Honduras has a long history of friendship with the State of Israel and the Jewish people.” Under Hernandez in 2021, Honduras became only the fourth country to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem in breach of international law. Asfura has also aligned himself with Trump and other right-wing leaders in the Americas, including Argentina’s Javier Milei. The Argentinian president hailed Honduras’s election results on Wednesday, calling it a victory against “narcosocialism”, although the National Party’s Hernandez is a convicted drug trafficker. “The Honduran people expressed themselves with courage at the ballot boxes and chose to end years of authoritarianism and decay,” Milei wrote in a social media post. “From Argentina, we celebrate the triumph of freedom and reaffirm our commitment to democracy, the popular will, and the unrestricted respect for institutions in the region.” Asfura’s victory marks another win for right-wing candidates in Latin America over the past year. Chile and Bolivia have also elected ultraconservative presidents in 2025, and last year, El Salvador’s right-wing leader Nayib Bukele comfortably won re-election. The results appear to reverse the “Pink Tide” – the wave of left-wing leaders who rose to power in the region in the early 2020s. The rise of right-wing governments in the region coincides with a US pressure campaign against Venezuela’s left-wing President Nicolas Maduro. Trump has imposed an oil blockade on Venezuela and amassed US troops and military assets near the country. Adblock test (Why?)