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South Korean Opposition Leader Lee Jae-myung Stabbed In Neck

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South Korean Opposition Leader Lee Jae-myung Stabbed In Neck

Lee was seen collapsing to the ground as people rushed to aid him (Reuters)

Seoul, South Korea:

South Korean opposition party leader Lee Jae-myung was stabbed in the neck on Tuesday while talking to reporters in the port city of Busan.

Lee was walking in a crowd of journalists after visiting the site of a new airport when a man in front of him lunged and struck him in the neck, footage on South Korean television channels showed.

The 59-year-old was seen collapsing to the ground as people rushed to aid him. One man was seen pressing a handkerchief on Lee’s neck.

He was “walking to his car while talking to reporters when the attacker asked for his autograph before striking him in the neck with what looked like a knife”, a witness told local broadcaster YTN.

Emergency responders were seen carrying Lee into an ambulance. 

Yonhap news agency said he was bleeding but conscious as he was taken to hospital.

TV footage showed police officials wrestling the attacker to the ground. He was seen wearing a hat with Lee’s name on it.

Yonhap said the assailant has been arrested.

Chief of the Democratic Party, Lee lost to conservative Yoon Suk Yeol in a tight presidential race in 2022.

Yoon expressed “deep concern over the safety of Lee Jae-myung upon hearing of the attack”, his spokeswoman Kim Soo-kyung said.

“Yoon emphasised our society should never tolerate this kind of act of violence under any circumstances.”

A former child factory worker who suffered an industrial accident as a teenage school drop-out, Lee rose to political stardom partly by playing up his rags-to-riches tale.

Recent polls have indicated that Lee remains a strong contender for president.

But his bid for the top office has been overshadowed by a string of scandals.

Lee avoided arrest in September when a court dismissed a request from the prosecution for him to be taken into custody pending trial on various corruption charges.

He still faces trial on charges of bribery in connection with a firm that is suspected of illicitly transferring $8 million to North Korea.

Lee is also accused of breaching his duties, allegedly resulting in a loss of 20 billion won ($15 million) for a company owned by Seongnam city during his term as its mayor.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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4 Shot Dead In Manipur, Biren Singh Calls Ministers For Urgent Meet

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After the attack, the enraged locals set the gunmen’s vehicles on fire.

Guwahati:

Four people were shot dead and several others injured in fresh violence in Manipur on New Year’s day, following which curfew was reimposed in the five valley districts of the state. A group of men, yet to be identified, came with automatic weapons for extortion, locals in Thoubal district claimed.

After the attack, the enraged locals set the gunmen’s vehicles on fire.

“The group came here with guns and while talking to a man who they seemed to know, a fight broke out. Soon they started shooting at everyone,” said a local.

Chief Minister N Biren Singh, in a video message, condemned the violence and appealed to the people to maintain peace.

“I express my immense sadness over the killing of innocent people. We have mobilised police teams to catch the culprits. I fold my hands and appeal to the residents of Lilong (where the incident happened) to help the government in finding the culprits. I promise that the government will do everything in its power to give justice under the law,” he said.

He also held an urgent meeting of all ministers and ruling party MLAs.

Following the fresh violence, curfew was reimposed in Thoubal, Imphal East and Imphal West, Kakching and Bishnupur districts, officials said.

Two days ago, four security forces were injured in a gunfight between suspected insurgents and police commandos in Manipur’s border town Moreh. Insurgents fired several RPGs which exploded inside the CDO outpost building at Moreh Turelwangma Leikai where the commandos were staying, officials said.

Manipur made headlines for much of 2023 as it saw one of the worst ethnic conflicts that broke out on May 3, resulting in more than 180 deaths and leaving nearly 60,000 people homeless.

India

Japan Lifts All Tsunami Warnings, Day After Metre-High Waves Hit Coast

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Japan Lifts All Tsunami Warnings, Day After Metre-High Waves Hit Coast

Tokyo:

Japan has lifted all the tsunami warnings and advisories put in place after a major quake on New Year’s Day, a meteorological agency official told AFP on Tuesday.

Small changes to tidal levels are still possible, the official said, a day after the strong jolt in central Japan triggered tsunami waves over a metre high.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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Chinese Student, Victim Of "Cyber Kidnapping", Found In Tent In US Woods

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Chinese Student, Victim Of 'Cyber Kidnapping', Found In Tent In US Woods

The detective “contacted the victim inside the tent and found he was alive but very cold and scared.”

Utah, US:

A Chinese exchange student who fell victim to a “cyber kidnapping” scam in which his parents were extorted for $80,000, was found alive but “cold and scared” in a tent in the Utah wilderness, police said.

Kai Zhuang, age 17, was reported missing on Thursday after his parents in China told officials at his host high school in Riverdale, Utah that he appeared to have been kidnapped and a ransom had been requested. 

The case followed a typical pattern for cyber kidnapping, in which “kidnappers” tell a victim to isolate and provide pictures of oneself as if being held captive — photos that are then sent to the victim’s family to extort payment.

The victims comply under the belief their family will otherwise be harmed.

After analyzing bank records, purchases and phone ping records in a days-long search, police became convinced he was isolating in a tent some 25 miles (40 kilometers) north in a large area near Brigham City.

“Due to the cold weather in Utah this time of year, we became additionally concerned for the victim’s safety in that he may freeze to death overnight,” the Riverdale Police Department said in a press release after he was found Sunday.

A sergeant hiking on foot up a mountainside discovered Kai’s tent — which had no heat source but only “a heat blanket, a sleeping bag, limited food and water and several phones that were presumed to be used to carry out the cyber kidnapping,” the department said.

The detective “contacted the victim inside the tent and found he was alive but very cold and scared.”

After being rescued, Kai “requested a warm cheeseburger” and to speak to his family, which had paid $80,000 to bank accounts in China during the scam, according to Riverdale police.

Kai’s host family in Riverdale had initially been unaware he was missing, having heard him in the kitchen in the early morning the day of his disappearance.

Riverdale police worked with the FBI, the US embassy in China and Chinese officials to find the missing teenager, according to the press release.

Cyber kidnappers have been targeting foreign exchange students recently, and in particular, Chinese foreign exchange students, Riverdale police said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Hyderabad

Telangana breaks record, tops organ donations

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In 2023 (between January and December), the organ donation initiative from Telangana broke its own record that it had set last year by retrieving 728 organs from 200 deceased brain dead donors and allocating them to needy patients

Published Date – 08:00 AM, Tue – 2 January 24


Telangana breaks record, tops organ donations


Hyderabad: The Jeevandan organ donation initiative of the Telangana State, which received unimpeded support from the BRS government in the last one decade, has set new standards in organ donations and retrievals.

In 2023 (between January and December), the organ donation initiative from Telangana broke its own record that it had set last year by retrieving 728 organs from 200 deceased brain dead donors and allocating them to needy patients. While last year the total number of donor organ retrievals was 716 from 194 brain dead patients, this year, the health department collected 728 organs from 200 victims.

In August, in terms of carrying out organ donations, Telangana emerged on top, when compared to other Indian States. To this effect, the union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW), New Delhi, had adjudged Telangana as the number one Indian State for conducting the largest number of cadaver organ donation.

According to Jeevandan officials, the organ donation rate in Telangana is 5.04 per million population (PMP), which is considered to be the highest in the country. Out of the 728 organ transplants, 287 were kidneys, 173 liver, 75 lungs, 15 heart, two pancreas and 176 included corneal transplants.

“We must thank the donor families, declaration teams, intensivists, coordinators, transplant teams, hospitals police departments, forensics and many more, including the Telangana government, for the successful role in saving so many lives in 2023 by organ donation,” said in-charge, Jeevandan, Dr. G Swarnalatha.

Maintaining transparency has been the mantra in driving organ donations. The success of the Jeevandan online organ donation system and the transparent guidelines in allocating organs under the initiative have led other Indian States such as Gujarat, Chandigarh, Jammu and Kashmir and Odisha to adopt the model.

This year, the authorities launched a major push to encourage government tertiary hospitals in Telangana to start taking up brain dead declaration and conducting organ transplantation. The Jeevandan officials are collaborating with government hospitals in Nizamabad, Warangal, Mahabubnagar, OGH, and Gandhi Hospital, and conducting workshops on this issue to make doctors aware about organ donation.

Almost all the brain dead or cadaver organ donations are trauma related i.e., they are road accident cases that are treated as Medico Legal Cases (MLCs) and involves police investigation. In the last few years, Jeevandan has been collaborating with Telangana police to spread awareness among police personnel on the importance of brain dead declaration and the much needed support that they can provide while dealing with road accident cases.

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Ram Rajya Coming, 2024 Polls Both Will Be 'Shubh' : Ayodhya Temple Priest

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Ram Rajya Coming, 2024 Elections Will Be 'Shubh': Ayodhya Temple Priest

Ayodhya Temple chief priest said not just peace, ‘Ram Rajya’ is coming.

Ayodhya:

This new year, 2024, will be significant as Ram Lalla will be seated in the sanctum sanctorum of the Ram temple in Ayodhya and the general elections will be held, and both will be ‘shubh‘ (propitious), Ram temple’s chief priest Acharya Satyendra Das said here on Monday.

Speaking to PTI at his residence in the Ramghat area of the city, the octogenarian praised the development work happening in Ayodhya.

“Not just peace, ‘Ram Rajya’ is coming. Ram Lalla will be seated in the sanctum sanctorum,” he said and quoted a couplet — “Ram Raj baithe trialoka, harshit bhai, gaye sab shoka“.

“Grief, pain, tension, will cease to exist and everyone will be happy,” he said.

‘Ram Rajya’ is a term used to refer to an ideal governance where everyone is happy.

“My greetings and blessings to all countrymen on New Year. Ram Lalla will be offered ‘Chhapan Bhog’, and ‘prasad’ will be offered,” he said, shortly before heading for the Ramjanmabhoomi temple site to perform the ‘aarti’.

As per the customs, ‘Bhog aarti’ is performed at noon. A ‘Chappan Bhog’ is offered to Ram Lalla on special occasions such as Holi, Ramnavmi, Basant Panchami, New Year, and Independence and Republic Day, his side said.

“So, the new year will be very good,” said the Ram temple’s chief priest.

The ‘Chhappan Bhog’ offered to Ram Lalla on Monday had come in a specially made box bearing a design that depicted Lord Ram and the upcoming temple, from a very old shop in Lucknow, his aide said, adding, it has been coming from the very same place for the last few years.

“This New Year is very significant, and it is significant because in this month on January 22, Ram Lalla will be seated in the sanctum sanctorum (of the under-construction temple)…and this will be very beneficial for the people of the country,” Acharya Das said.

Meanwhile in Ayodhya, organisers began distributing worshipped ‘akshat’ — rice grains mixed with turmeric and ghee — on New Year’s Day and this will continue up to January 15, a week before the consecration ceremony at the Ram temple.

Ayodhya rang in the New Year on December 31 night, amid chants of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ as many residents and others had gathered at the iconic Lata Mangeshkar Chowk near Naya Ghat.

A large number of people took holy dip in the Saryu river on the New Year while others visited the Ramjanmabhoomi temple to have a ‘darshan’ of Ram Lalla, as well as Hanumangarhi temple to seek blessings of Lord Hanuman.

Asked about the further construction of the Ram temple, this year, Das said, “A lot of work is to be done in 2024. One is that Ram Lalla will be seated in the sanctum sanctorum. And, Lok Sabha elections also will take place in this year, 2024, and all these will be ‘shubh’ (propitious) and good.” The consecration ceremony will take place few months ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the temple town on December 30 during which he held a roadshow, inaugurated the redeveloped Ayodhya railway station and the newly-bult airport, and laid foundation stone for a slew of other projects.

On August 5, 2020, he had performed the ‘bhoomipujan’ ceremony in Ayodhya for the upcoming temple.

Settling a fractious issue that goes back more than a century, the Supreme Court in a historic verdict in 2019 backed the construction of a Ram temple by a trust at the disputed site in Ayodhya, and ruled that an alternative five-acre plot must be found for a mosque in the Hindu holy town.

On December 6, 1992, a frenzied mob of kar sewaks gathered in the holy town from from different parts of the country, had demolished the mosque, triggering communal violence in many parts of the country.

While much has changed in Ayodhya since the landmark verdict, the Ram temple issue and the history of the dispute continues to weigh on minds of many people.

Asked if lasting peace will return to Ayodhya after the construction of the Ram temple, Das, the Ram temple’s chief priest, said, He also shared that many development projects have materialised in the temple town and more are in the offing.

“Development is happening in Ayodhya. Airport has come up, new railway station (building) got built, and Ram Path has been developed. Many such roads are proposed, and through these projects, Ayodhya will be seen in a grand form. People will come and have ‘darshan’. It is a very auspicious month (January) and it may bode well for everyone is my blessing,” he added. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Middle East

Israel kills 7th Palestinian prisoner since Operation al-Aqsa Storm

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Palestinian officials say the Israeli regime has assassinated another Palestinian prisoner who was in detention in one of the occupying entity’s prisons.

The new fatality, which occurred on Monday, increases to seven the number of Palestinian inmates killed in the regime’s prisons since October 7, 2023, when the Gaza Strip’s resistance movements launched Operation al-Aqsa Storm.

The Palestinian Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS) announced the development in a joint statement. 

They identified the victim as 23-year-old Abdul Rahman Bassem al-Bahsh from the city of Nablus in the northern part of the occupied West Bank.

The assassination of al-Bahsh took place while he was being detained under a 35-month sentence at Megiddo prison near the city of Haifa in the northern part of the occupied Palestinian territories, the commission and the PPS said.

They added that al-Bahash was the first Palestinian inmate to be killed by Israeli forces on the first day of 2024, and the seventh since October 7, 2023.

The Palestinian bodies added that al-Bahsh’s assassination “confirms that the occupation continues without no deterrent or any consideration to carry out more assassinations against prisoners…in addition to the systematic crimes of torture and abuse.”

Hamas: Israeli crimes will backfire on regime

Reacting to Israel’s new crime, the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas issued a statement, saying the crime coincides with reports about field executions, brutal torture, and inhumane conditions faced by the Palestinian inmates, especially those who are from Gaza.

“We affirm that these assassinations and crimes will backfire on the usurping occupation as fire and hell,” Hamas said.

The movement added, “The resistance fighters will teach this occupier appropriate lessons for the continuation of its crimes and brutality against our men, women, and children.”

Thousands of Palestinian prisoners are currently languishing in Israeli jails. 

Back in April, a joint report by a group of Palestinian rights advocacy groups revealed that the occupying entity is keeping about 4,900 Palestinian inmates, including many women and children, behind bars.

The regime’s jail authorities usually keep Palestinian prisoners under deplorable conditions without proper hygienic standards.

However, since Operation al-Aqsa Storm, the occupying regime has heightened its campaign of systematic torture, harassment, and repression against Palestinian inmates.

Following the operation, the regime also launched a genocidal war on the besieged Gaza Strip, which has so far claimed the lives of close to 22,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children.

India

Japan Hit By 155 Earthquakes In A Day, 6 Dead, Several Injured

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Japan Hit By 155 Earthquakes In A Day, 8 Dead, Several Injured

At least six people died in a major earthquake that struck central Japan on New Year’s Day

Tokyo:

Japan has been hit since Monday by 155 earthquakes including a 7.6-magnitude jolt and another over 6, the Japan Meteorological Office said.

Most of the quakes had a magnitude greater than 3 and while the strength has gradually moderated, six strong jolts were still felt early Tuesday, the JMA said.

At least eight people died in a major earthquake that struck central Japan on New Year’s Day, triggering tsunami waves over a metre high, damaging homes and sparking a major fire that wreaked destruction overnight, authorities said Tuesday.

The scale of the damage from Monday’s quake was still emerging, with news footage showing toppled buildings, sunken boats at a port, countless charred homes, and locals without power in freezing overnight temperatures.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake, which struck Ishikawa prefecture on the main island of Honshu had a magnitude of 7.5.

Japanese authorities put it at 7.6 and said it was one of more than 90 quakes that had rocked the region as of 1:00 am Tuesday (1600 GMT Monday).

Waves at least 1.2 metres (four feet) high hit the port of Wajima on Monday, and a series of smaller tsunamis were reported elsewhere, but warnings of much larger waves proved unfounded.

Aerial news footage showed sunken boats at the fishing port of Suzu, with at least one washed onto shore, and devastation from a major fire in Wajima.

Around 32,700 households in the region remained without power on Tuesday, the local energy provider said.

Tens of thousands of people had been ordered to evacuate, according to the fire and disaster management agency, cited by Kyodo. About 1,000 people were staying at a military base, the defence ministry said.

“I instructed (emergency workers) to reach the area as soon as possible by using whatever means available,” Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said late Monday after a disaster response meeting.

“It is very cold now. I issued an instruction to deliver necessary supplies like water, food, blankets, heating oil, gasoline, fuel oil, by using planes or ships,” Kishida told reporters.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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Harmanpreet's Form In Focus As India Aim To Salvage Pride Final ODI vs AUS

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Captain Harmanpreet Kaur’s form with the bat will be in focus as the Indian Women’s team looks to salvage pride and end a nine-match losing streak at home against a dominant Australia in the third and final ODI here on Tuesday. Kaur has led her side admirably well in a long home season with a couple of historic results in the Tests, but this period has also witnessed her struggle with the bat. She has scored runs in double digits only thrice in eight innings across formats this season with her highest being 49 against England in the one-off Test last month.

In the historic win against Australia in the one-off Test, Kaur was out for a duck in India’s first innings and she was not required to bat in the second essay. In the two ODIs against Australia who have taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series, her scores were 9 and 5.

While India made the most of the favourable home conditions in the one-off Test, the home team’s frailties have come to the fore again in white-ball cricket in the last two ODIs.

If India were ordinary with the ball in the first ODI wherein they lost by six wickets even after posting their highest-ever total of 282 for 8 in the format, Kaur’s side dropped as many as seven catches in the second game, as Australia get away with a three-run win.

At the same time, Richa Ghosh’s heroics in the second ODI — 96 off 113 balls (13 fours) in a stiff chase — and Jemimah Rodrigues’ consistency (82 and 44) have delivered the goods with the bat for India.

Ghosh is India’s new find in No. 3 and to have an aggressive batter in the top order gives the hosts a lot of firepower.

Pressure will be on the likes of Amanjot Kaur and Deepti Sharma, who could not finish the game for India despite the equation being almost run-a-ball in the second ODI.

The cliched old adage of ‘catches win matches’ came to the fore again after India dropped at least seven chances, and head coach Amol Muzumdar admitted after the game that Kaur’s team remains a work in progress.

India’s defeat by six wickets in the first ODI and narrowly by three runs in the second extended their plight at home against Australia, whom they have not beaten even once in the 50-over format in the last 16 years since February 2007.

Muzumdar had also confirmed that Sneh Rana would be available for the final ODI after missing the second half of the last game due to a collision with Pooja Vastrakar.

India will host the 2025 Women’s 50-over World Cup and with the core of the squad already determined, the task hereon would be to improve in all departments, particularly fielding.

Australia, on their part, would be keen on putting a better show in the field after dropping a few regulation chances in the last match, while big runs are awaited from skipper Alyssa Healy.

Healy has been scoring in double-digit figures consistently but a big score has deserted her so far, while Australia will expect further fireworks from both Phoebe Litchfield and Ellyse Perry who have hit fifties in both the ODIs.

The Teams (From): India: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Yastika Bhatia (wk), Richa Ghosh (wk), Amanjot Kaur, Shreyanka Patil, Mannat Kashyap, Saika Ishaque, Renuka Singh Thakur, Titas Sadhu, Pooja Vastrakar, Sneh Rana, Harleen Deol.

Australia: Alyssa Healy (c & wk), Darcie Brown, Heather Graham, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Tahlia McGrath, Beth Mooney (wk), Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Wareham.

Match starts at 1:30pm IST. PTI DDV PDS PDS

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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