Imran Khan's Party Backed Candidates Take Oath As Speaker, Deputy Speaker

Jailed former prime minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf party-backed independent candidates Babar Saleem Swati and Suriya Bibi on Thursday took the oath as the Speaker and Deputy Speaker respectively of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial assembly.

Mr Swati, 62, who was elected from PK-37 Mansehra-II constituency in the provincial polls on February 8, secured 89 votes against 17 obtained by the Pakistan Peoples Party candidate Ehsan Ullah Khan.

Similarly, Suriya Bibi, 40, who won from the Chitral's PK-1 seat, secured 87 votes in the elections and won the slot of Deputy Speaker.

Suriya is the first woman elected on a general seat in Chitral's history after securing 18,914 votes against the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl 's (JUI-F) Shakeel Ahmed, who could get only 10,533 votes.

Outgoing speaker Mushtaq Ghani administered the oath of the new custodian of the house.

The Chief Minister designate Ali Amin Gandapur will take oath of the leader of the house in the KPK assembly on Friday.

The oath-taking ceremony of the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker came a day after the newly elected lawmakers of the KPK assembly were sworn in on Wednesday.

The KPK assembly has a total strength of 145 members, including 10 women and four minorities elected against reserved seats.

The allocation of the reserved seats has not been notified as the matter is currently being heard by the Election Commission of Pakistan.

In the February 8 elections, Mr Khan's PTI-backed independent candidates obtained a clear-cut majority in the provincial legislature with 90 seats to form the third consecutive solo government in the restive province.

The PTI-backed independent candidates have joined the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) to receive its share of reserved seats for women and minorities in the national and provincial assemblies.

The SIC is an alliance of Islamic political and religious parties in the Muslim-majority country, which represents followers of the school of Sunni Islam.

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Israel Killed Over 25,000 Palestinians Since Hamas Attack: US Defence Chief

Israel has killed more than 25,000 Palestinian women and children since the October 7 attack by militant group Hamas, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said Thursday.

"It's over 25,000," Austin told lawmakers when asked during a House Armed Services Committee hearing for the figure on women and children killed.

The United States has backed Israel since the unprecedented Hamas attack in October that resulted in the deaths of around 1,160 people.

Israel responded to the attack with a relentless assault on Gaza that the coastal territory's health ministry said has left more than 30,000 people dead.

The number provided by Austin is within the same range, and come as Washington pushes for a ceasefire and a reduction in civilian casualties in Gaza.

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Three-Time Ex Pak PM Nawaz Sharif Takes Oath As Lawmaker In Assembly

Three-time former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday took oath as an ordinary lawmaker in the 16th session of Pakistan's National Assembly, days after giving up his bid to lead the country for a record fourth time.

A quirk of fate following the poor show in the electoral battle led Nawaz, 74, the supremo of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party to abandon his claim to the prime minister's position to his younger brother Shehbaz, 72.

Mr Sharif is back in Parliament after seven long years when he had to step down as the premier following his disqualification in 2017.

His terms as the prime minister include the first from 1990-1993, then 1997-1999, and the last from 2013-2017, none of them for a complete five years. He returned from London to Pakistan in October last year, ending his self-imposed exile to lead his party in the February 8 elections.

However, he could not achieve his ambition to become Pakistan's prime minister for a record fourth time since his PML-N failed to garner enough seats in the elections, forcing him to nominate his younger brother to become the premier for a second time.

Shehbaz earlier served as prime minister when the cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan's government was ousted in April 2022. The PML-N party president served as prime minister for 16 months till August 2023 when fresh elections were announced.

On Thursday, amid protests by Imran Khan's party members against alleged vote rigging, Nawaz Sharif took oath along with his brother Shehbaz.

"Historic visuals from the 16th National Assembly oath-taking ceremony!" the PML-N X handle posted along with the hashtag #MeraQuaidPhirSeAya and a 1:18 minute video.

The video showed the smiling elder Mr Sharif entering the Parliament, then walking towards the many members of his party and shaking hands, with all the while a party song that said 'Sher Aaya' (Lion Nawaz Sharif has come) playing in the background.

According to the Constitution, a party must win 133 out of 265 contested seats in the 266-member National Assembly to form a government.

Independent candidates - a majority backed by 71-year-old jailed former prime minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party - won 93 National Assembly seats. The PML-N won 75 seats while the PPP came third with 54 seats. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) has 17 seats.

That left PML-N and PPP to ally along with four smaller parties to keep Khan's PTI out of power. As part of the arrangement, instead of Nawaz, it was Shehbaz who was to don the premier's hat, a deal said to have the backing of the powerful military.

The nomination of Shehbaz Sharif as the next prime minister by Nawaz Sharif, who himself was eyeing the plum post for a record fourth time, had surprised many within and outside the party.

However, the PML-N leaders and Nawaz Sharif's daughter Mariam Nawaz, have reiterated that Nawaz Sharif is not quitting politics and he would continue to guide the party.

Ironically, a pinned post from the President PMLN's X handle still reads: "The President of PMLN Shehbaz Sharif, during the news conference, reaffirmed that Quaid PML-N Nawaz Sharif will become the Prime Minister." 

On Wednesday, Nawaz Sharif expressed the hope that Pakistan will come out of difficulties in the next two years by taking difficult decisions as his party is all set to form a coalition government in the Centre.

"I believe the next 1.5 or 2 years will be difficult but we have to stay united [during the difficult times] and face our opponents," he said while addressing the parliamentary party meeting.

"Pakistan will come out of the difficulties in the next 1.5 to 2 years," he said. The three-time former premier said Pakistan is "badly injured" and the difficult decisions were the need of the hour to resolve the country's woes.

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Doctors Think I Look "Too Young": Biden Jokes About Age After Medical Exam

President Joe Biden said his annual medical examination had gone well Wednesday, joking that doctors thought he looked too young even as scrutiny increases over the 81-year-old's age ahead of November's US election.

The White House said a summary of the test results from the Walter Reed military medical facility outside Washington would be released later in the day, with the outcome closely followed for details about America's oldest ever leader.

"They think I look too young," Biden told reporters when asked if the medical exam had raised any concerns ahead of a likely rematch with 77-year-old Donald Trump in November.

"No, there is nothing different from last year," when his exam said he was fit for duty, Biden added after an event at the White House. 

Biden took a short helicopter ride to the medical center that is often used by US presidents and left after just over two and a half hours, saluting naval staff and donning sunglasses before leaving in his motorcade.

The White House said Biden's longtime doctor Kevin O'Connor was "happy with how everything went", adding that the assessment had involved a team of 20 physicians.

Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre defended Biden not taking a cognitive test, saying it was the assessment of his doctors that the president did not need one.

"The president passes again a cognitive test every day," Jean-Pierre told reporters, citing the domestic and international political issues he dealt with. "This is a very rigorous job."

Biden's routine medical exam comes as voter concerns mount over the age of a leader who would be 86 at the end of a second term in office.

The issue was thrust further into the spotlight this month when a brutal special counsel report portrayed Biden as elderly and forgetful, giving ammunition to his Republican rivals.

The investigation cleared him of illegally retaining classified documents in his home and garage -- but said he would come across to a jury as a "well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory."

Biden launched a fiery counterattack in a press conference at the White House, saying his memory was "fine" and slamming the special counsel for claiming he could not remember when his son Beau died of cancer.

But this week Biden took a more lighthearted tone while trying to deflect the issue back onto his septuagenarian nemesis Trump.

In an interview with late-night TV comic Seth Meyers on Monday, Biden said he was a better bet than "the other guy," who is only four years younger.

The other guy and I are about the same age.

The question in this election is: How old are your ideas? He wants to take us back 60 years. I'm focused on the future. pic.twitter.com/lcQcXWt5Jh

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) February 27, 2024

In last year's medical exam, Biden got a clean bill of health, although he did have a cancerous skin lesion removed from his chest.

"President Biden remains a healthy, vigorous, 80-year-old male, who is fit to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency," O'Connor said following Biden's medical examination in 2023.

Trump routinely depicts Biden as pathetically old, decrepit and unfit for office -- despite being nearly the same age and raising eyebrows with a series of verbal gaffes and memory issues of his own.

The real estate tycoon recently confused his rival Republican Nikki Haley with Democratic former House speaker Nancy Pelosi, and said Viktor Orban was president of Turkey, rather than Hungary.

Late last year, Trump released a note from his doctor declaring him to be in "excellent" health, but it was short on details and did not say what tests Trump had undergone when he had a physical in September 2023.

The letter said the results of his cognitive exams were "exceptional" but did not disclose basic information such as Trump's height and weight, cholesterol level or blood pressure.

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2 Pak Nationals Charged Over Calls For Dutch Far-Right Leader's Murder

Dutch prosecutors said Wednesday they were putting two Pakistani nationals on trial for incitement to murder anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders, asking Islamabad for legal help in the matter.

Judges in September last year sentenced Pakistani cricketer Khalid Latif to 12 years behind bars for urging people to murder Wilders after the firebrand lawmaker sought to arrange a competition for cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.

The Public Prosecution Service said it was prosecuting two Pakistani nationals, one a religious leader, 55 and one a political leader, 29, "who have called upon their following to murder a Dutch member of Parliament."

"This was done both during meetings and on social media through video and text messages," it said in a statement.

The religious leader allegedly called for Wilders' murder as his followers would be "rewarded in the afterlife", while the political leader said since Latif's conviction it was "up to his own followers to carry out the task".

The two men are set to go on trial at a highly-secure courthouse near Amsterdam's Schiphol airport on September 2.

Dutch authorities have asked Islamabad for legal assistance to question the suspects and serve summonses to appear in court.

However, no treaty exists with Pakistan for mutual legal assistance and it seems unlikely the two men will ever appear in the dock.

Geert Wilders posted two names on X, formerly Twitter, but prosecutors did not give the suspects' names because of privacy reasons.

The names could not independently be verified by AFP.

"I hope they will be extradited, convicted and jailed!" Wilders said.    

Dutch authorities have sought in vain to question Latif over the case and requested legal assistance from Pakistan, also to no avail.

Wilders cancelled the cartoon contest after protests broke out in Pakistan and he was inundated with death threats. He has been under 24-hour state protection since 2004.

In the Netherlands, the plan to stage the contest was criticised widely with politicians, local media and ordinary citizens slamming the idea as needlessly antagonising Muslims.

But the call to kill Wilders appeared to resonate, with a Pakistani man sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2019 for plotting his assassination in the wake of the cancelled contest.

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People Without Tails? Scientists Identify Genetic Mutation Behind Condition

Director James Cameron's "Avatar" movies are populated by a species of outsized blue beings resembling humans, except with tails. So why does our species lack a tail, considering that our evolutionary forerunners in the primate lineage had them?

Scientists on Wednesday identified what might be the genetic mechanism behind the tailless condition of us and our ape ancestors - a mutation in a gene instrumental in embryonic development. The tail was a feature of most vertebrates for more than half a billion years, and its loss may have offered advantages as our ancestors moved from the trees to the ground, they said.

The researchers compared the DNA of two groups of primates: monkeys, which have tails, and hominoids - humans and apes - which do not. They found a mutation in a gene called TBXT that was present in people and apes but absent in monkeys. To test the effects of this mutation, the researchers genetically modified laboratory mice to have this trait. These mice ended up with either a reduced tail or none at all.

"For the first time, we propose a plausible scenario for the genetic mechanism that led to the loss of the tail in our ancestors. It's surprising that such a big anatomical change can be caused by such a small genetic change," said New York University Langone Health geneticist and systems biologist Itai Yanai, who helped lead the study published in the journal Nature.

The absence of a tail may have better balanced the body for orthograde - upright - locomotion and eventually bipedalism, said geneticist and systems biologist Bo Xia of Harvard University and the Broad Institute, the study's lead author.

The mutation that led to the tail loss, according to the researchers, occurred roughly 25 million years ago, when the first apes evolved from monkey ancestors. Our species, Homo sapiens, appeared roughly 300,000 years ago.

The evolutionary lineage that led to apes and people split from the lineage that led to today's Old World monkeys, a family that includes baboons and macaques. Hominoids today include humans, the "great apes" - chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, orangutans - and the "lesser apes" - gibbons. The earliest-known hominoid, called Proconsul, was tailless.

Hominoids evolved the formation of fewer tail vertebrae, losing an external tail. Vestiges of a tail remain in humans. A bone at the base of the spinal column called the coccyx, or tailbone, is formed from fused remnants of tail vertebrae.

For many vertebrates, a tail has helped with functions like locomotion - think of propulsion by fish and whales - and defense - as with dinosaurs that wielded tails with clubs or spikes. Some monkeys and some other animals have prehensile tails that can grasp objects like tree limbs.

"A tail may be advantageous when you live in trees. As soon as you transition to land, though, it may be more of a liability," Yanai said.

The advantages obtained by going tailless appear to have come with a cost. Because genes may contribute to multiple functions in the body, mutations that confer an advantage in one area may be detrimental in another.

In this case, the modified mice showed a small increase in severe birth defects, called neural tube defects, of the spinal cord, resembling spina bifida in people.

"This suggests that the evolutionary pressure to lose the tail was so great that, despite creating the potential for this condition (neural tube defects), we still lost the tail," Yanai said.

It is an interesting thought experiment to ponder whether humans could have evolved with tails. The Na'vi people of "Avatar," alas, are science fiction.

"I'm a fan of James Cameron's 'Avatar' - it's just a beautiful world, and the Na'vi people use their tails for direct communication," Xia said. "I hope to ask James why he created Na'vi people with tails."

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"Hope Right People Come In, Do Right Thing": Israel Votes For Civic Polls

Israelis voted Tuesday in twice postponed municipal elections that could offer a gauge of the public mood nearly five months into the war against Hamas in Gaza.

Soldiers had already cast their ballots over the past week at special polling stations set up in army encampments in Gaza as fighting rages.

Polls opened at 7:00 am (0500 GMT) and closed at 10:00 pm (2000 GMT).

More than seven million people were eligible to vote in the elections for local councils across most of Israel, in Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, in Jerusalem and in parts of the annexed Golan Heights.

The vote, first scheduled for October 31, has been pushed back to November 2024 in towns and villages bordering the besieged Gaza Strip or Lebanon, where Hamas ally Hezbollah has fired rockets at Israel almost daily since the start of the Gaza war.

Nearly 150,000 Israelis have been displaced by hostilities in those areas.

Amit Peretz, 32, a Jerusalem city council candidate, said Jerusalem's diverse make-up demands that "all voices are heard in the city in order to make everything work, because it's very complex".

Gita Koppel, an 87-year-old resident of Jerusalem, said she turned out because voting was "the only way you can have your voice heard".

"I hope the right people come in and do the right thing for Jerusalem," she said.

Elections Were Delayed After Hamas Attack

The elections were delayed after Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attack on southern Israel resulted in the deaths of at least 1,160 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Israel's retaliatory offensive against Hamas has killed at least 29,878 people in Gaza, most of them women and minors, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.

Two candidates for council chief in Gaza border areas were killed in the October 7 attack: Ofir Libstein in Kfar Aza and Tamar Kedem Siman Tov, who was shot dead at her home in Nir Oz with her husband and three young children.

In Jerusalem and other major cities, far-right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish candidates aligned with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's political allies are running against government critics and more moderate candidates.

Netanyahu Facing Public Pressure

Netanyahu has faced increasing public pressure over the fate of hostages still held in Gaza, and from a resurgent anti-government protest movement.

Tel Aviv's mayor of 25 years, Ron Huldai, is seeking re-election in a race against former economy minister Orna Barbivai, who could become the first woman in the job.

Lawyer Amir Badran, an Arab candidate who had initially announced he would run for Tel Aviv mayor, has quit the race before election day but was still vying for a city council seat.

In Jerusalem, another Arab candidate, Sondos Alhoot, was running at the head of a joint Jewish-Arab party. If elected, she would be the first Arab woman on the city council since 1967.

The elections for municipal and regional councils are largely seen as local affairs, though some races can become springboards for politicians with national ambitions.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid, who had a brief stint as prime minister before Netanyahu returned to power in late 2022, said Tuesday's vote shows "there is no problem" holding elections even during the war.

In a post on social media platform X, Lapid called for a snap parliamentary election "as soon as possible" to replace Netanyahu.

Voter turnout in the last local elections, in 2018, stood at 59.5 percent, lower than any of Israel's five parliamentary elections since 2019.

Most Palestinians in east Jerusalem, seized by Israel in 1967 and later annexed, have the right to vote in municipal elections but not for parliament.

Palestinian residents make up around 40 percent of the city's population, but many of them have boycotted past elections.

The first results are expected later Tuesday. Second round run-offs will be held where necessary on March 10.

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Pak Court Indicts Imran Khan, Wife In 190 Million Pounds Corruption Case

An accountability court in Pakistan on Tuesday indicted jailed former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi in the 190 million pounds Al Qadir corruption case.

Judge Nasir Javed Rana conducted the hearing at Rawalpindi's high-security Adiala jail where the 72-year-old Pakistan-Tehreek-Insaf founder is currently incarcerated in multiple cases.

The judge read the chargesheet in Khan and Bushra's presence in the courtroom.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had initiated an investigation against Khan, his wife, and others regarding the alleged acquisition of hundreds of canals of land under the name of Al Qadir University Trust, resulting in a reported loss of 190 million pounds to the exchequer.

During the hearing, the court said that statements of 58 witnesses will be recorded in the case, Geo News reported.

The judge asked Khan if he was guilty or not while framing charges against him.

"Why should I read the charge sheet when I know what's written in it?" Khan replied.

Both Khan and his wife then denied the charges against them.

The hearing was adjourned till March 6 and the court also ordered five witnesses of NAB to attend the hearing.

Bushra, 49, is imprisoned at Khan's Bani Gala residence in Islamabad after an accountability court sentenced the couple to 14 years in jail in the Toshakhana corruption case.

The Al-Qadir Trust case pertains to the settlement of 190 million pounds, which the UK's National Crime Agency sent to Pakistan after recovering the amount from Pakistani property tycoon Malik Riaz Hussain.

Being the prime minister then, Khan, instead of depositing the money in the national treasury, allowed the businessman to use the amount to partly settle a fine of about Rs 450 billion imposed by the Supreme Court some years ago.

The tycoon, in return, allegedly gifted about 57 acres of land to a trust set up by Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, to establish the Al-Qadir University in the Sohawa area of the Jhelum district of Punjab.

Hussain, his son Ahmed Ali Riaz, Mirza Shehzad Akbar, and Zulfi Bukhari are also among the suspects in the case, but instead of joining the investigation and subsequent court proceedings, they absconded and were subsequently declared as proclaimed offenders. 

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New York Medical School Scraps Tuition Fees After $1 Billion Donation

A New York medical school will scrap tuition fees after receiving a "transformational gift" worth $1 billion from a wealthy benefactor, the Albert Einstein College of Medicine's parent organization said in a statement.

The charitable donation is one of the largest ever publicly received by an educational institution in the United States and will see the almost $60,000 undiscounted annual tuition fee become zero.

The school, and its affiliated hospital the Montefiore Medical Center, are located in the Bronx -- New York City's poorest borough, where health outcomes are some of the worst in the state, according to official statistics.

A clip of the announcement being made on campus, posted to social media, showed an auditorium of students reacting rapturously, cheering, screaming and applauding.

We are profoundly grateful that Dr. Ruth Gottesman, Professor Emerita of Pediatrics at @EinsteinMed, has made a transformational gift to #MontefioreEinstein—the largest to any medical school in the country—that ensures no student has to pay tuition again. https://t.co/XOy9HZLbfD pic.twitter.com/1ijv02jHFk

— Montefiore Health System (@MontefioreNYC) February 26, 2024

"Albert Einstein College of Medicine has received a transformational gift from Ruth L. Gottesman, Ed.D., Chair of the Einstein Board of Trustees and Montefiore Health System board member," the organization said in a statement late Monday. 

"This historic gift -- the largest made to any medical school in the country -- will ensure that no student at Einstein will have to pay tuition again."

All current fourth-year students will be reimbursed their spring 2024 semester fees and from August all future students will receive free tuition, the statement added.

Gottesman, 93, is a former clinical professor of paediatrics at Einstein and the wife of David Gottesman, a former Wall Street financier. They were significant donors to the school during his lifetime.

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Indian Philanthropist Donates Rs 2.25 Crore To Free Prisoners In UAE

In a pre-Ramzan gesture, a UAE-based Indian businessman and philanthropist has donated 1 million dirhams (approximately INR 2.5 crore) to ensure the release of 900 prisoners from jails across the Gulf nation.

Firoz Merchant, 66, who is the owner of Pure Gold Jewellers, donated the money to the UAE authorities, a testament to the holy month's message of humility, humanity, forgiveness, and kindness.

"Prominent Dubai-based Indian businessman and philanthropist Firoz Merchant of Pure Gold has donated close to Rs 2.25 Crores (AED 1 million) to ensure the release of 900 prisoners from jails across the Arabian nation," said a statement from his office.

Under the aegis of The Forgotten Society initiative founded in 2008, Merchant has already been instrumental in obtaining the release of 900 prisoners across the UAE since the beginning of 2024, including 495 prisoners from Ajman, 170 prisoners from Fujairah, 121 prisoners from Dubai, 69 prisoners from Umm Al Quwain and 28 from Ras Al Khaimah.

In conjunction with the Director Generals of Police at the Central Jails across the UAE, Merchant has already succeeded in obtaining the release of over 20,000 prisoners over the years from a wide range of denominations, nationalities, and religions.

He gets their debt paid and donates funds for their air tickets to fly back to their home country.

Mr Merchant says he began this mission keeping in mind the priority the UAE gives to tolerance to give a second chance for them to be reunited with their families.

He aims to facilitate the release of more than 3,000 prisoners in 2024. Merchant's helping hand has been recognised by the rulers, also his kindness, forgiveness and generosity have earned him accolades from senior government officials across the UAE.

"I am very fortunate to affiliate with the government authorities. The Forgotten Society initiative is based on the premise that humanity transcends borders. We work together to provide them with the possibility to reconcile with their family in their home country and society," Mr Merchant said.

Colonel Mohammed Yusuf Al-Matrooshi, Deputy Director of the General Administration of Punitive and Correctional Establishments, Ajman, said that it is rare to see such commitment and concern towards the rehabilitation of prisoners by giving them a helping hand.

"So many thousands owe him a debt of gratitude and what makes it so impressive is the quiet and discreet manner in which he sets about doing so much good work and providing genuine hope to those who might be languishing behind bars because they cannot pay their fines," Al-Matrooshi said.

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Ukraine's Counteroffensive Plans Were Leaked To Russia, Says Zelensky

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky suggested on Sunday that plans for Kyiv's long-awaited counteroffensive last year had been leaked to Russia ahead of time.

Ukraine's counteroffensive in 2023, powered by billions of dollars in Western arms, largely fell flat, failing to break through multiple lines of Russian defences and fortifications.

"Our counteroffensive action plans were on the Kremlin's table before the counteroffensive actions began," Zelensky said Sunday at a press conference in Kyiv.

His office subsequently confirmed to AFP that Zelensky was referring to Moscow obtaining sensitive military planning information.

Zelensky did not provide any other details on the leak.

He went on to say that Kyiv was preparing "several" versions of its battlefield strategy for 2024 to help avoid a repeat.

Asked whether Ukraine had plans for another attempt at a counteroffensive this year, he said: "We have a plan, a clear plan. Several plans will be prepared because of information leaks."

Russian forces are now back on the advance across eastern Ukraine, having captured the symbolic frontline town of Avdiivka and seeking to press their advantage in ammunition and manpower.

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Zelensky Says 31,000 Troops Killed In 2 Years Of War With Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday his country's victory "depends" on Western support and that he was "sure" the United States would approve a critical package of military aid.

He also said 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed in two years of war with Russia, in a rare admission of military losses. 

"Whether Ukraine will lose, whether it will be very difficult for us and whether there will be a large number of casualties depends on you, on our partners, on the Western world," Zelensky said. 

He spoke at a press conference in Kyiv dedicated to the second anniversary of Russia's invasion at a time when Ukraine has been weakened by a shortage of ammunition and the blocking of US aid in Congress. 

"There is hope for Congress, and I am sure that it is going to be positive, otherwise I do not understand the world we will start to live in," Zelensky said. 

The aid has been blocked amid resistance from Republicans.

For the first time, Zelensky put a number on Ukraine's military losses in two years of brutal fighting with Russia, saying "31,000 Ukrainian soldiers died in this war."

"Not 300,000 or 150,000, or whatever (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and his lying circle are saying. But each of these losses is a great loss for us," he added. 

Both sides are believed to minimise deaths of troops. 

Asked if he would talk to Putin, Zelensky said: "Can you talk to a deaf person? Can you talk to a man who kills his opponents?" 

Putin's main opponent Alexei Navalny died in an Arctic prison this month. 

"He sees himself (in power) by 2030, we would like to finish with him sooner," Zelensky added, mocking an upcoming presidential election in Russia that is likely to extend Putin's long rule until 2030.

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India, Maldives, Sri Lanka Hold 'Dosti' Exercises In Indian Ocean

Seeking to enhance maritime security and interoperability, coast guard personnel from India, the Maldives and Sri Lanka have embarked on a four-day trilateral exercise to identify emerging maritime challenges in the Indian Ocean Region.

Indian Coast Guard ship Samarth and ICGS Abhinav along with Sri Lanka Naval Ship Samudura reached here on Thursday for the exercise 'DOSTI-16' that is being held between February 22 and 25. Bangladesh is participating as an observer.

The sea exercise under #DOSTI -XVI involving five Coast Guard ships from #India, #Maldives and #SriLanka conducted today at Male, #Maldives. @giridhararamane @MEAIndia @HCIMaldives @MNDF_Official pic.twitter.com/D6TJeE8rez

— Indian Coast Guard (@IndiaCoastGuard) February 24, 2024

MNDF welcomes participating ships from India and Sri Lanka for the Trilateral Joint Exercise "DOSTI-16" from Feb 22-25. Coast Guards of Maldives, India, and Sri Lanka, along with observers from Bangladesh, join in this biennial event to enhance collaboration between the forces. pic.twitter.com/csAF51qTTl

— Maldives National Defence Force (@MNDF_Official) February 22, 2024

Coast guard helicopter ICGS Dornier too is part of the trilateral exercise 'Dosti,' which Sri Lanka said aims to enhance cooperation, strengthen friendship, improve mutual operational capability, and develop interoperability among the Coast Guard personnel of India, the Maldives, and Sri Lanka.

The Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) late Thursday evening extended a warm welcome to ADG S Paramesh, Additional Director General of the Indian Coast Guard.

"Upon his (Paramesh) arrival at the VIA, Colonel Mohamed Saleem, Commandant of MNDF Coast Guard, greeted him," a post on X by MNDF said.

"Commanding Officers of both ICG ships called on Commandant MNDF CG and discussed mutual avenues of cooperative engagements," the Indian Coast Guard said in a post on X.

The ICG ships would participate in a series of activities and take part in a joint sea exercise with the Sri Lanka Coast Guard and Maldives National Defence Force.

The Indian Mission in Maldives described the 16th edition of the India-Maldives-Srilanka trilateral exercise 'Dosti' as a "regional synergy to enhance maritime security & interoperability!"

Earlier, a release from the Sri Lankan Navy said before its ship left for the Maldives: "Participating in this nature of exercises will allow the Sri Lanka Navy to enhance cooperation and interoperability with other maritime stakeholders in the region."

"It (also) offers numerous advantages, including acquiring new knowledge about maritime operations, exchanging strategies and experiences, identifying emerging maritime challenges in the Indian Ocean Region, and collaboratively finding solutions for them," it added. 

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G7 Nations Call On Russia To "Fully Clarify" How Putin Critic Navalny Died

Leaders of the G7 nations on Saturday called on Russia to "fully clarify" how Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny came to die in prison last week.

Their statement came hours after a spokesperson for Navalny's team said the Russian authorities had finally handed over his body to his mother following his death in an Arctic prison colony.

"We call on the Russian government to fully clarify the circumstances around his death," said the statement.

"We also pay tribute to the extraordinary courage of Alexei Navalny and stand with his wife, children, and loved ones," it added.

"He sacrificed his life fighting against the Kremlin's corruption and for free and fair elections in Russia."

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Bosch To Cut 3,500 Jobs In Home Appliances Unit To "Reduce Costs"

The Bosch group said Friday it would axe 3,500 jobs at its BSH home appliances subsidiary by 2027, the latest in a series of cuts among German manufacturers as they struggle with rising costs and weaker demand.

The company had to "reduce complexity and costs" in order to "safeguard its competitiveness" in a challenging economic environment, BSH said in a statement.

It was "essential to review existing structures" and adapt to new growth markets, it said. 

"This includes adjusting personnel structures and personnel costs to the new requirements."

The global jobs cull would affect "indirect" workers, BSH added, referring mainly to administrative positions.

Around 1,000 jobs will be cut this year already, it said.

BSH was founded as a joint venture by Bosch and Siemens in 1967, before becoming a wholly Bosch-owned subsidiary almost a decade ago.

It employs around 60,000 people globally, 17,000 of them in Germany.

Germany's once-mighty industrial sector is struggling to emerge from a downturn, having been hit hard by soaring energy costs following Russia's war in Ukraine, as well as the impact of higher interest rates and cooling exports.

The Bosch group already announced plans in December to slash 1,500 jobs at its auto supply business, as Germany's crucial car industry undergoes major changes as part of the shift towards electric vehicles.

BSH rival Miele meanwhile said earlier this month it would scrap up to 2,700 jobs as part of a cost-cutting drive.

Chemicals giant Bayer said last month it was planning "significant" reductions in staffing. 

It was joined on Friday by rival BASF, which said there would be "further job cuts" as it unveiled a one-billion-euro savings plan.

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New Pak Government Likely By March 2; Presidential Poll Before March 9

With a power-sharing deal already inked, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Pakistan Peoples Party are moving ahead with plans to form a coalition government by March 2 and hold the presidential election before March 9, according to a media report on Friday.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) led by three-time Prime minister Nawaz Sharif will be backed by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) of former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has agreed to form a new government after the February 8 elections resulted in a hung Parliament.

Former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif, 72, is set to return to the top post after his elder brother Nawaz, decided to nominate the PML-N president for premiership. The party has clarified that the three-time former prime minister did not want to lead a government in which the PMN-L does not have a majority in Parliament.

Both parties won fewer seats than candidates backed by jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Quoting sources, The News International reported that serious consideration is being given to the proposal to hold the presidential election before March 9 as the newly elected assemblies across the country will take oath by February 29 and a new government be in place by March 2.

Incumbent President Dr Arif Alvi's five-year tenure officially ended in September of last year. However, the dentist-turned-politician, who was a senior member of Khan's PTI before being appointed to the post in 2018, continued to stay in the office even after the expiration of his stipulated constitutional term.

The PML-N, PPP, and their allied parties want the presidential election to be held by March 8 before the completion of the current tenure of the Senate and for the Senate elections to be held after the president is elected.

When contacted, PPP senior leader Senator Farooq H Naek said that according to Article 41, read with the second schedule of the Constitution, the presidential election has to be held within 30 days of the general elections.

"This means that the presidential election is to be held before March 9", he was quoted as saying by the report.

President Alvi, 74, had agreed to perform his duties until the appointment of his successor as the assemblies were dissolved in August and the elections were not held as per the constitutional time limit.

PPP Co-Chairperson Asif Ali Zardari, 68, will likely return to the presidency as earlier this week the Bilawal-led party and PML-N agreed to nominate him for the constitutional office as a joint candidate in return for helping Shehbaz Sharif form the government at the Centre under a power-sharing agreement.

To form a government, a party must win 133 out of 265 contested seats in the 266-member National Assembly.

The power-sharing deal was finalised after no political party secured a simple majority in the February 8 elections, forcing parties to join hands in their bid to form a government and deny a chance to Imran Khan's PTI to return to power.

Shehbaz Sharif and Bilawal have said that they have the required support to form a coalition government.

In the polls, Mr Khan's PTI-backed independent candidates secured victory on the most National Assembly seats (92) followed by the PML-N (79) and the PPP (54).

Meanwhile, Pakistan Muslim League (N) president and prime minister-designate Shehbaz Sharif on Friday met delegations from MQM, the Muslim League (Q) and the Balochistan Awami Party and discussed issues related to the country's situation and political cooperation.

"It is everyone's responsibility to save the country from economic threats," Shahbaz Sharif said and vowed to move forward unitedly to serve the people.

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UK To Limit Stakes For Online Games To Curb Gambling Addiction

The UK government announced Friday that it would introduce stake limits for online slot games in a toughening of regulations designed to help protect people from the dangers of gambling.

From September, adults will be restricted to £5 ($6) per spin while 18 to 24-year-olds will be limited to £2.

As of now, there are no limits on stakes, unlike on physical gaming machines in casinos and betting shops.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport described the move as a "landmark moment" for the regulation of online gambling.

It said in a statement the laws would "counter the increased risk of significant harm and life-changing losses" from online slots.

However, Charles Ritchie, who co-founded the charity Gambling With Lives after his son took his own life after battling gambling addiction, said the games would "remain highly addictive".

"They are high-speed products, and really until there is action taken on the speed of play then they will remain addictive," he told BBC radio.

The government says that young people are particularly susceptible to gambling addiction.

In 2019, it cut the maximum bet on electronic gaming machines in betting shops -- called fixed-odds betting terminals -- from £100 to £2.

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Israel Seeks Palestinians Not Associated With Hamas To Manage "Gaza Pockets"

Israel is seeking Palestinians who are not affiliated with Hamas to manage civilian affairs in areas of the Gaza Strip designed as testing grounds for post-war administration of the enclave, a senior Israeli official said on Thursday.

But Hamas said the plan, which the Israeli official said would also exclude anybody on the payroll of the internationally recognised Palestinian Authority, would amount to an Israeli reoccupation of Gaza and was doomed to failure.

The Israeli official said the planned "humanitarian pockets" would be in districts of the Gaza Strip from which Hamas has been expelled, but that their ultimate success would hinge on Israel achieving its goal of destroying the Islamist faction across the tiny coastal territory that it has been governing.

"We're looking for the right people to step up to the plate," the official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. "But it is clear that this will take time, as no one will come forward if they think Hamas will put a bullet in their head."

The plan, the official added, "may be achieved once Hamas is destroyed and doesn't pose a threat to Israel or to Gazans".

Israel's top-rated Channel 12 TV reported that the Zeitoun neighbourhood of northern Gaza City was a candidate for implementation of the plan, under which local merchants and civil society leaders would distribute humanitarian aid.

The Israeli military would provide peripheral security in Zeitoun, Channel 12 said, describing renewed troop incursions there this week as designed to root out remnants of a Hamas garrison that was hit hard in the early stages of the war.

There was no official confirmation of the Channel 12 report.

'SIGN OF CONFUSION'

Asked about the Israeli official's comments and the Channel 12 report, senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said such a plan would be tantamount to Israel reoccupying Gaza, from which it withdrew troops and settlers in 2005. Israel says it will have indefinite security control over Gaza after the war, but denies this would be a reoccupation.

"We are confident this project is pointless and is a sign of confusion and it will never succeed," Abu Zuhri told Reuters.

The Israeli official also made clear the Palestinian Authority (PA), which exercises limited self-rule in the occupied West Bank, would also be barred as a partner in the "humanitarian pockets" on account of its failure to condemn the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

The militants killed 1,200 people and took 253 hostages in that attack, Israel says, prompting an Israeli ground offensive and aerial bombardment of Gaza in which nearly 30,000 people have been killed, according to Gazan health authorities.

"Anyone who took part in, or even failed to condemn, October 7 is ruled out," the official said.

The United States has called for a "revitalised" PA to govern Gaza after the war. But Israel has been cool to the idea, noting that the PA provides payouts to jailed militants.

Still, the official said, Israel would be willing to consider "humanitarian pocket" partners with past links to the PA's dominant Fatah faction, a more secular rival to Hamas.

(Additional reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi; Writing by Dan Williams; Editing by Gareth Jones)

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Putin Critic's Mother Shown His Body, Claims Russia Wants Secret Burial

Alexei Navalny's mother Lyudmila on Thursday accused Russian investigators of planning a "secret" funeral for her son and said she would not agree to it.

"They want this to be done secretly, with no farewell. They want to bring me to the edge of a cemetery, to a fresh grave and say: here lies your son. I don't agree to this," she said in a YouTube video.

There was no immediate response from Russian investigators.

Navalny, 47, Russia's best known opposition politician, died suddenly in an Arctic penal colony last week. His team and family have alleged that the Kremlin murdered him, an allegation the Kremlin has angrily rejected.

His mother said she had been shown his body and death certificate. Navalny's team said the death certificate stated that the opposition politician had died of natural causes.

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"Frightening": YouTubers Split Over OpenAI's Video Tool Sora

US firm OpenAI debuted a tool last week that can generate highly realistic snippets of video from just a few lines of text, leading content creators to wonder if they are the latest professionals about to be replaced by algorithms.

Reactions to the tool, called Sora, have ranged from head-over-heels enthusiasm to alarm over the future direction of the industry.

YouTuber Marques Brownlee called it "frightening" and "threatening" to see an AI doing his job.

On the other hand, Caleb Ward, one half of AI filmmaking duo Curious Refuge, told his YouTube followers he could not wait to get his hands on the tool.

Yet both Ward and Brownlee agreed that it was a massive moment for their industry.

"I can't stress enough how big a deal this is for the filmmaking and creative world," said Ward, who recently went viral with a trailer he created for a Wes Anderson-style Star Wars movie.

OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, said in its announcement that Sora was not yet available to the public.

The announcement did not specify use cases but said "a number of visual artists, designers and filmmakers" had been chosen to help test it.

'Like an amoeba'

The firm accompanied its statement with sample videos including a stylish woman walking along a Tokyo street, a cat waking up its owner in bed, and a group of charging woolly mammoths.

The internet immediately lit up with awe and praise, as is common with OpenAI products.

"I was shocked by their quality," Anis Ayari, an AI engineer and streamer known as Defend Intelligence, told AFP.

He suggested the tool could one day be used to create entirely virtual presenters.

But there were also plenty of dissenters who felt the videos were still firmly stuck in the "uncanny valley", where glitches in otherwise photo-realistic images can leave viewers feeling queasy.

Commentator Ed Zitron wrote that in OpenAI's cat video "the owner's arm appears to be part of the cushion and the cat's paw explodes out of its arm like an amoeba".

He wrote in his newsletter that AI video tools were too expensive and resource-hungry to ever be genuinely useful.

And styles of clips could not be harmonised, making the tools useless for creating anything other than tiny snippets.

AI fatigue

Sora enters a marketplace that is heating up, with Google, Stability AI and several other smaller players already in the game.

YouTube itself announced last September it was developing a tool to let creators make AI-generated videos and background pictures.

However, the tools already available have hardly taken the world by storm.

French streamer FibreTigre said he had tried AI video tools but ended his experiment.

He said he was worried about the ethics of using tools trained on other artists' work, and ultimately the programs did not do their job well enough.

"They're just ugly," he said of AI videos.

He said he could see a future where viewers would have a "huge amount of fatigue" with AI and would cherish anything that was not artificial.

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US Drone That Crashed In Yemen Appears To Have Been Shot Down By Houthis

An American MQ-9 Reaper drone crashed off the coast of Yemen after apparently being struck by a missile fired by Iran-backed Houthi rebels, the Pentagon said Tuesday.

It is the second time an MQ-9 -- which can be used for both surveillance and strikes -- was lost near Yemen in recent months, with US officials confirming last year that another was downed by the Houthis.

The apparent shoot-down came the same day that the rebels targeted two US-owned merchant vessels as they continue their multi-month campaign of attacks on shipping in the area.

"On February 19, a US MQ-9 was downed or went down off the coast of Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen, in the Red Sea," Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told journalists.

"Initial indications are that it was shot down by a Houthi surface-to-air missile," Singh said.

The Houthis -- who are opposed to government forces in Yemen and are also part of the "axis of resistance" of groups arrayed against Israel -- said they shot down an MQ-9 in November 2023, while the United States assessed that another was downed by the rebels in 2019.

Earlier on Tuesday, the military's Central Command said US and coalition aircraft and warships shot down 10 one-way attack drones in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden between 8:00 pm on Monday and 12:30 am the following day.

- US-owned ships targeted -

The French defense ministry said Tuesday that the country's navy had destroyed two drones over the Red Sea during the night, but it was not immediately clear if they were included in the CENTCOM figures.

The US military command also said an American destroyer shot down an anti-ship cruise missile that was "headed in its direction" early on Tuesday, while US forces destroyed a drone and a missile launcher in Yemen the day before.

On Monday, two anti-ship ballistic missiles caused minor damage to the M/V Sea Champion -- a US-owned, Greek-flagged grain ship -- while a drone hit the M/V Navis Fortuna, a US-owned, Marshall Islands-flagged bulk carrier, CENTCOM said.

The Houthis had said in a statement Monday that they had targeted "two American ships in the Gulf of Aden. The first was 'Sea Champion' and the other was 'Navis Fortuna.'"

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

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

Anger over Israel's devastating campaign in Gaza -- which began after an unprecedented Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 -- has grown across the Middle East, stoking violence involving Iran-backed groups in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen.

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US Says Disagrees With Brazil's Lula Likening Gaza War To Holocaust

The United States said Tuesday it disagreed with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva comparing Israel's campaign in Gaza to the Holocaust, ahead of his meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

"Obviously we disagree with those comments. We have been quite clear that we do not believe that genocide has occurred in Gaza," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.

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"Like Doomsday": Gazans Describe Terrifying Evacuation From Hospital

Gunfire echoed around Palestinian medics, patients and displaced people during what they described as a terrifying and chaotic night evacuation from Gaza's Nasser Hospital after Israeli forces rushed in the hospital.

Survivors of last week's assault on the second-biggest hospital in Gaza said they then faced a treacherous walk to safety through the dark, passing corpses along the way.

One doctor said a male nurse was detained at an Israeli checkpoint, stripped naked and taken away screaming.

"Smoke was everywhere, it was like doomsday, people running everywhere," said Doctor Ahmed al-Mughraby, head of the plastic surgery department, who fled with his wife and children.

Mughraby, who has found refuge with his family in a shelter near another hospital where he now works, said Israeli forces had ordered everyone to evacuate except patients unable to walk and medics looking after them.

Details of the military assault on Nasser Hospital have been gradually emerging as the people who fled or were evacuated reach Rafah, the last relatively safe place in the Gaza Strip about six miles (10 km) away on the border with Egypt.

Israel described the assault as a precision operation conducted by special forces aimed at recovering the bodies of Israeli hostages. It said there had been no obligation on patients and staff to leave, and efforts were made to ensure the hospital could keep functioning.

But the raid has prompted alarm among aid agencies, and the World Health Organization said the amount of damage was "indescribable".

The WHO, the UN health agency, has carried out two evacuations from Nasser Hospital since Thursday but said on Tuesday it was concerned about nearly 150 patients and medics remaining there as fighting continues.

After besieging the hospital, Israeli forces entered it last Thursday and said they had detained hundreds of operatives hiding there, with some posing as hospital staff.

Hamas has denied using the hospital, and calls Israel's allegations "lies". The Health Ministry in Gaza has said Israel has detained 70 staff and volunteers working at the facility.

The WHO said the hospital stopped functioning last week after the Israeli siege and raid, and no longer had electricity or running water, with medical waste and garbage creating a breeding ground for disease.

Drone Fire, "Aggressive Dogs"

Nasser Hospital was the biggest hospital still operating in Gaza more than four months into the war that began when fighters from the Palestinian group Hamas raided Israeli towns on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking 253 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel's military campaign in Gaza has since killed more than 29,000 Palestinians, health authorities in the Hamas-run enclave say.

Hakeem Salem Hussein Baraka said the Nasser Hospital orthopaedic department where he had been working as a volunteer had been destroyed, and that he saw a patient cut in two by an explosion.

Baraka said a "quadcopter" drone had fired at medical staff taking a break between shifts and "aggressive" dogs with cameras placed round their necks by Israel's military had been roaming the hospital.

The Israeli military said its forces had fought "complex battles" before entering the hospital compound and came under rocket fire from fighters barricaded inside the hospital. It said troops found large quantities of weapons and vehicles linked to the October 7 attack.

"We gave people an opportunity to evacuate before we entered the hospital," Colonel Moshe Tetro told a news briefing. Asked whether there was any gunfire or combat within the hospital, he said: "No".

As Palestinians left the hospital before dawn, some had to wade through sewage, said Rasmeya Saleem Abu Jamoos, a dialysis patient who fled with her blind husband, Abu Jamoos.

He was among people detained at a military checkpoint after leaving the hospital, she said.

The doctor, Mughraby, said his ward had been hit by Israeli fire and that he believed three patients had been killed in the strike. Reuters was unable to verify this.

He said he and his family had left the hospital with three patients and some staff members but one, a department nurse, was stopped.

"They made him take off all his clothes so he was naked and they took him to detention. I could hear his screams," he said.

Mughraby said those who made it through the checkpoint then had a long walk across a battlefield to reach help. Some were sick or injured.

Baraa Ahmed Abu Mustafa, who was on mismatching crutches, said shots were fired over their heads as they went and there were dead bodies near the hospital entrance.

"I'm injured and for one hour I walked," he said. "It was dangerous and the road was bad."

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Video: Israeli Woman With 7 Armed Men And Hamas' Youngest Hostage

Israel's military on Monday published new images and voiced concern about a mother and her two boys -- including a baby who is the youngest hostage seized by Hamas operatives.

Hamas announced in November that all three had been killed in an Israeli bombardment but the Israeli authorities have not confirmed the claim.

Army spokesman Daniel Hagari said they were "concerned for the welfare" of Shiri Bibas, who was seen on a street camera in the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis surrounded by seven armed men.

?Footage from Oct. 7 of Shiri Bibas with her 4-year-old child and 9-month-old baby covered in a sheet, being transported by their terrorist kidnappers in eastern Khan Yunis: pic.twitter.com/GPOCxYts6Q

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) February 19, 2024

Kfir Bibas is the youngest Israeli hostage and was "stolen from his crib" in the community of Nir Oz when he was barely nine months old while his brother, Ariel, was just four, Hagari told a televised briefing.

If still alive, Kfir Bibas would have turned one year old on January 18.

In a statement on Monday, other members of the Bibas family described the images as "unbearable and inhumane" and called the kidnapping of children "a crime against humanity and a war crime".

"Ariel and Kfir are victims of monstrous evil. Our whole family has become hostages along with all the hostages," they added.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that "these kidnappers of babies and mothers" will be brought to justice.

Hamas has previously broadcast a video of the boys' father, Yarden Bibas, who was also seized in the October 7 attacks by Hamas militants which triggered the war with Israel.

Nir Oz in southern Israel was the scene of some of the bloodiest attacks on October 7, which led to the deaths of 1,160 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.

Israel vowed to "destroy" Hamas in response and has carried out a relentless bombardment and ground invasion that has killed more than 29,000 people, most of them women and children, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.

More than 250 people were taken hostage, including more than 75 from Nir Oz. According to Israel, 130 hostages are still in Gaza but 30 are thought to be dead.

Images filmed by Hamas on October 7 of a terrified Shiri Bibas with her two children in her arms have become the defining images of the hostage crisis for Israelis.

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US Woman Runs Over 7-Year-Old Son After Forcing Him To Walk From School

A woman in Alabama allegedly drove over her seven-year-old child after forcing him to walk home from school as a punishment. According to the New York Post, the incident happened on February 9, when Sarai Rachel James, 27, picked up her son from school and got to know of his misbehavior by the school's principal. As a punishment, she made the boy get out of her car and asked him to walk or run the rest of the way home, which was about eight blocks away. 

When she slowed down, the boy tried to grab the door handle of the car before his mother accelerated. Her action resulted in the boy being pulled under the car and run over by the rear tire.

Police Chief Michael Abercrombie told People that the boy survived the accident and sustained minor injuries. He suffered abrasions on his back and the side of his head and was transported to the University of Alabama Hospital.

''It was a miracle he was not hurt worse than he was. God was watching over that child that day,'' Mr Abercrombie told People. 

The woman was arrested on February 8 and charged with aggravated child abuse, according to Marshall County Sheriff's Office online booking records. Aggravated child abuse is a Class B felony, according to the Alabama state code. If convicted, the charge carries a sentence of up to 20 years behind bars.

Investigators believe that James ''accidentally'' ran over the boy, but she was negligent and irresponsible. ''She may not have realized he was doing that. But she should not have put him in that situation in the first place,'' Mr Abercrombie added. 

She was released on a bond of  $50,000 early on the morning of February 11 but has been barred from having any contact with her son. Department of Human Resources has taken custody of the little boy.

A 53-year-old woman who was in the vehicle at the time of the accident also faces a misdemeanor charge of endangering the welfare of a child. She was released from jail on a $500 bond, according to the outlet.

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Shirtless UK Passenger Punches Air Steward After Destroying Plane Toilet

In a shocking incident, a shirtless passenger punched an air steward in the face after destroying the plane's toilet. The incident happened on February 7, aboard a Thai Airways flight from Bangkok to Heathrow, Metro reported. Footage of the incident which has surfaced online showed the 35-year-old man punching the steward who was knocked so hard he fell to the floor. 

Stunned by his vile outburst, other passengers tried to intervene and stop him and finally managed to tie his hands together. A fellow woman passenger sitting just a few seats away managed to capture the ordeal on camera. The video has now gone viral on social media websites. 

Watch the video here:

A 35yo unruly British man was arrested after his flight from Bangkok to London Heathrow landed following a cowardly attack on a Thai Airways member of staff.

The man went berserk minutes after the flight took off on Feb 7 and proceeded to smash up the aircraft's toilet. pic.twitter.com/k391Ab5Phs

— ThaiMythbuster (@thaimythbuster) February 16, 2024

She said, ''He was in the toilet and he started screaming and shouting. He started smashing the door and it came away from the hinges. An older guy – in the white t-shirt – tried to get him out. A fight broke out and he ended up smacking the flight attendant. I think he broke his nose.''

Amid the chaos, passengers were warned the flight might have to divert to Dubai if the man didn't calm down, but fortunately, the plane was able to continue on its journey.

The woman added, ''Two passengers sat either side of him and kept pulling him down. We had to put up with his shouting. He was being very verbally abusive. It was rough. People were swapping seats and moving kids to the back of the plane.''

Upon landing in London, he was arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm and endangering an aircraft.

The Met Police said: "We met the aircraft on arrival and a 35-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm and endangering an aircraft. He remains in custody. Another man was taken to hospital. His condition was assessed as not life-threatening.''

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S Jaishankar, Saudi Counterpart Discuss West Asia, Strategic Partnership

On the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday (local time) held a meeting with his Saudi Arabian counterpart Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud and discussed the West Asia situation and the strategic partnership.

In a post on social media platform X, Jaishankar wrote, "A productive conversation with FM HH @FaisalbinFarhan of Saudi Arabia. Discussed connectivity, the West Asia situation and our strategic partnership."

A productive conversation with FM HH @FaisalbinFarhan of Saudi Arabia.

Discussed connectivity, the West Asia situation and our strategic partnership. #MSC2024 pic.twitter.com/vk4S4BO7fl

— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) February 17, 2024

Notably, India and Saudi Arabia share centuries-old economic and socio-cultural ties. Economic ties are an important aspect of the bilateral strategic partnership between two nations, according to the Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia.

Jaishankar is currently in Munich, Germany, to attend the Munich Security Conference (MSC) 2024 from February 16-18. Earlier, he met Atlantic Council President Fred Kempe.

Earlier, EAM S Jaishankar met his counterpart from Norway, Espen Barth Eide, on Saturday and had a "big picture chat" with him in Munich, on the sidelines of the ongoing security conference in the German capital. The two leaders discussed reformed multilateralism, and the world order.

"A big picture chat with FM @EspenBarthEide of Norway on sidelines of MSC 2024," the EAM posted on X."Spoke about the imperative of reformed multilateralism and a more equitable world order," he added.

He also joined a session on 'Vishwa Mitra: Bridging the Divide', which was hosted by the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), India, a New Delhi-based think tank."Joined @FaisalbinFarhan, @stephenharper, @vestager and @OSullivanMeghan in 'Vishwa Mitra: Bridging the Divide' session hosted by @orfonline. A lively discussion on the world order; past, present and upcoming," Jaishankar posted on X.

He also met his counterparts from Poland, Belgium, and Portugal on the sidelines of the Security Conference in Munich.

Jaishankar held a meeting with his Portuguese counterpart Joao Cravinho and shared views on recent global developments as they met.

In another post on X, Jaishankar wrote, "Pleasure to meet FM of Portugal @JoaoCravinho, this time in Munich. Shared views on recent global developments."

During his meeting with Poland's Foreign Minister, Radoslaw Sikorski, the EAM discussed bilateral cooperation between the two countries across different domains.

"A deep discussion on the Ukraine conflict with FM @sikorskiradek of Poland today on MSC 2024 sidelines. Also exchanged views on our bilateral cooperation in different domains," he wrote on X.

In his meeting with the Belgian Foreign Minister, Hadja Lahbib, the EAM lauded the advancement in bilateral ties between India and Belgium.

"Good to meet FM of Belgium @hadjalahbib this morning in Munich. Glad to work with the Belgian Presidency of the EU, as well as in advancing our bilateral ties," the EAM posted on X.

The Munich Security Conference (MSC) 2024 got underway on February 16 in the German capital and will conclude on Sunday. The MSC 2024 offers a unique opportunity for high-level debates on the world's most pressing security challenges.

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Israel Will Enter Rafah Even If Hostage Deal Reached With Hamas: Netanyahu

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that critics calling for Israel not to mount military action in Rafah were effectively telling the country to "lose the war" against Hamas.

The Israeli premier, who has vowed to "destroy" the Palestinian group behind the October 7 attack on Israel, also indicated that troops would go in regardless of whether a hostage release is agreed.

"Even if we achieve it, we will enter Rafah," he told a televised news conference.

Israel has faced increasing calls, including from its closest ally the United States, to hold off sending troops into the southern Gazan city, where some 1.4 million people have fled.

The military maintains that it is working to move civilians from the area to minimise casualties, but has not revealed exact details of its evacuation plan.

Talks have been held in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, to try to broker a pause in the fighting, while aid agencies are increasingly concerned about the lack of food, water and medicine in the Gaza Strip.

Netanyahu said any settlement "will be reached only through direct negotiations between the parties, without preconditions", dismissing Hamas's demands as "ludicrous".

"Israel under my leadership will continue to strongly oppose the unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state," he added.

"After the terrible massacre of October 7, there can be no greater reward for terrorism than that and it will prevent any future peace settlement."

He was speaking as thousands of Israelis protested in Tel Aviv, accusing Netanyahu's government of abandoning hostages kidnapped in the October 7 attack and still held in Gaza.

They chanted that the government had "blood on its hands" and called for Israel to negotiate. Among them was Yair Mozes, whose father Gadi is among the captives.

"I'm sorry that the prime minister thinks that it's not necessary to send representatives to the negotiations in Cairo, where all the parties and mediators are except for Israel," he added.

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Trump To Address Supporters After $355 Million New York Civil Fraud Ruling

Donald Trump will address supporters at a campaign rally on Saturday for the first time since a New York judge ruled he must pay $354.9 million in penalties for fraudulently overstating his net worth to dupe lenders.

The former president, set to appear at an election rally in Michigan, was scheduled to speak at the same time as Nikki Haley, his last remaining rival for the Republican presidential nomination, who was due to hold an event in South Carolina.

On Saturday morning, Haley wasted no time in going after Trump after Friday's ruling, which handed him another legal setback in a civil case that imperils his real estate empire.

Trump also faces four state and federal criminal trials, including one scheduled to start in New York on March 25, over alleged hush money payments to a porn star. That means Trump will become the first former U.S. president to stand trial on criminal charges.

Haley frequently says "chaos" follows Trump, and that he can't be an effective president or candidate because of his myriad legal problems.

"He's going to be in court in March and April. He's going to be in court in May and June. He said himself that he's going to be spending more time in a courtroom than he is on the campaign trail," Haley told Fox News.

Trump reacted furiously to Friday's ruling in posts on his social media platform after Justice Arthur Engoron also banned Trump from serving as an officer or director of any New York corporation for three years.

New York Attorney General Letitia James had accused Trump and his family businesses of overstating his net worth by as much $3.6 billion a year over a decade to fool bankers into giving him better loan terms.

In posts on his social media platform, Trump called Engoron "crooked," James "corrupt," and the case against him "ELECTION INTERFERENCE" and a "WITCH HUNT."

Trump is close to clinching the Republican presidential nomination, and the prospect of a likely general election rematch with Democratic U.S. President Joe Biden, after recent nominating contest wins in Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada.

Before his rally in Michigan, which holds Republican nominating contests on Feb. 27 and March 2, Trump was due to appear at a convention for sneaker fans in Philadelphia.

Haley, who has no clear path to the Republican nomination, has refused to quit. She is making a potential last stand in her home state of South Carolina, which holds its primary on Feb. 24, where she trails badly in opinion polls behind Trump.

On Friday, Haley also attacked Trump for his failure to comment on the death of Alexei Navalny, Russia's most prominent opposition leader.

Russia's prison service said that Navalny, 47, died on Friday at the "Polar Wolf" Arctic penal colony. The West, including Biden, blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for the death. Western leaders did not cite evidence.

Haley has accused Trump of cozying up to Putin and other authoritarian leaders.

"Anybody that can't call out a dictator, that's a problem," Haley told CNN on Friday.

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Avdiivka - Symbol Of Ukrainian Resistance Now In Control Of Russian Troops

Ukraine's withdrawal from the city of Avdiivka hands Vladimir Putin a major symbolic victory before Russia's presidential election in March and exposes Kyiv's critical shortages of weapons and soldiers.

- Symbol of Ukrainian resistance -

Avdiivka, a small industrial city in the eastern Donbas region, has been a symbol of Ukrainian resistance to Russian aggression since 2014.

It is close to the city of Donetsk, which pro-Russian separatists control as their capital and whose Moscow-backed fighters briefly took power in July 2014 before Ukrainian forces regained control.

The city is now mostly destroyed and abandoned, with the vast majority of its pre-war population of around 34,000 having fled.

Avdiivka "has been a symbol of Ukraine's battlefield resolve and Russia's military failures", said analyst Ivan Klyszcz of the Estonia-based International Centre for Defence and Security.

But it is "strategically insignificant", added Gustav Gressel, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations.

"It would have been a good foot in the door for a Ukrainian offensive" on Donetsk city, but Ukraine cannot conduct such an offensive for at least two years and it made "no sense to sacrifice soldiers now", he said.

For Vladimir Putin, whose re-election as Russian president in March is all but assured with the opposition muzzled or exiled, Avdiivka is a "significant victory", according to the US-based Institute for the Study of War.

- Unfavourable odds for Ukraine -

A spokesman for one of Ukraine's top military units said the months-long battle for Avdiivka was even tougher than the bloody fighting in Bakhmut, another industrial eastern city which Russian paramilitary group Wagner claimed to have captured in May 2023.

Oleksandr Borodin of Ukraine's third assault brigade pointed to Russia's massive deployment of heavy equipment and air power, with intense bombardment raining down on Ukrainian positions in recent days.

Russia carried out tank attacks with infantry using "a large number" of armoured personnel carriers, Soviet-era combat vehicles, planes and drones, whereas Wagner mostly sent men into the Bakhmut front line, he said before Ukraine's withdrawal.

Although Avdiivka's defences had been strengthened since 2014 and inflicted heavy losses since October, Russian forces managed to "infiltrate into the city itself" in mid-January, said Gressel.

In the past two weeks, Ukrainian communication lines were cut or endangered, while some areas faced attacks from all sides, he added.

The delivery of Western F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine "take much too long" and Kyiv's forces were running short of air-to-air missiles and artillery ammunition, undermining the defence of Avdiivka, Gressel said.

- Retreat to hold out -

Pulling out of Avdiivka was the right decision to avoid being surrounded and save as many lives as possible, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the Munich Security Conference on Saturday.

"This does not mean that people retreated some kilometres and Russia captured something, it did not capture anything," he added.

The retreat is unsurprising because Russia had nearly surrounded Avdiivka and the destruction of units would have been "catastrophic" for Ukraine, said Mark Cancian, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"The corridor leading out of the city is narrow and under fire. The retreat will not be easy," he warned.

Ukrainian forces have been ordered to set up new defensive lines to the west and southwest of Avdiivka and the battle is far from over.

It remains to be seen whether Ukraine can defend the new line and if Russia has enough reserves to continue the offensive and make another breakthrough, said Philippe Gros of the Foundation for Strategic Research in Paris.

According to a European military source, Ukraine is going on the defensive to hold out in the long term, fend off local Russian attacks and avoid squandering its capacities while waiting for fresh Western aid, especially from the United States.

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20 Tech Giants Sign Effort To Fight AI Election Interference Across Globe

A group of 20 tech companies announced on Friday they have agreed to work together to prevent deceptive artificial-intelligence content from interfering with elections across the globe this year.

The rapid growth of generative artificial intelligence (AI), which can create text, images and video in seconds in response to prompts, has heightened fears that the new technology could be used to sway major elections this year, as more than half of the world's population is set to head to the polls.

Signatories of the tech accord, which was announced at the Munich Security Conference, include companies that are building generative AI models used to create content, including OpenAI, Microsoft and Adobe. Other signatories include social media platforms that will face the challenge of keeping harmful content off their sites, such as Meta Platforms, TikTok and X, formerly known as Twitter.

The agreement includes commitments to collaborate on developing tools for detecting misleading AI-generated images, video and audio, creating public awareness campaigns to educate voters on deceptive content and taking action on such content on their services.

Technology to identify AI-generated content or certify its origin could include watermarking or embedding metadata, the companies said.

The accord did not specify a timeline for meeting the commitments or how each company would implement them.

"I think the utility of this (accord) is the breadth of the companies signing up to it," said Nick Clegg, president of global affairs at Meta Platforms.

"It's all good and well if individual platforms develop new policies of detection, provenance, labeling, watermarking and so on, but unless there is a wider commitment to do so in a shared interoperable way, we're going to be stuck with a hodgepodge of different commitments," Clegg said.

Generative AI is already being used to influence politics and even convince people not to vote.

In January, a robocall using fake audio of U.S. President Joe Biden circulated to New Hampshire voters, urging them to stay home during the state's presidential primary election.

Despite the popularity of text-generation tools like OpenAI's ChatGPT, the tech companies will focus on preventing harmful effects of AI photos, videos and audio, partly because people tend to have more skepticism with text, said Dana Rao, Adobe's chief trust officer, in an interview.

"There's an emotional connection to audio, video and images," he said. "Your brain is wired to believe that kind of media."

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Switzerland Is Best Country To Build Multi-Generational Wealth

Switzerland is the world's best nation to build multi-generational wealth. As per a new index by citizenship advisory firm Henley & Partners, Switzerland has 85 per cent of the total opportunity score.

The index evaluated the nations on six different parameters including earning potential, career advancement, employment opportunities, premium education, economic mobility, and livability.

With 100 points of earning potential, 95 points of career advancement, and 94 points of employment prospects, Switzerland has occupied the top spot on the index.

On high livability and economic mobility, Switzerland scored 75 points, while it scored 72 on premium education.

Switzerland is followed by the United States of America which scored 82 per cent on the total opportunity score. The US stands equivalent to Switzerland on employment prospects—94 points.

However, it dwindled to 93 points on earning potential, 86 points on career advancement, and 68 points on high livability.

The employment prospects and premium education in the USA stand at 74 points.

India, meanwhile, scored 32 per cent on the opportunity score, which is even lower than Greece and occupies the last spot among the top 15 nations on the list.

India has one of the lowest scores on economic mobility, which is just 8 points. Among its other parameters, India has the highest career advancement with 43 points.

Despite scoring a similar earning potential that of Switzerland (100 points), Singapore occupied third place on the Index as it got a 79 per cent total opportunity score.

After scoring 97 points, Singapore has garnered the highest employment prospect score on the list, which includes 15 nations.

Singapore has the least career advancement among the top 5 nations on the index. Apart from 66 points in career advancement, the nation has scored 55 points in premium education, 65 points in high livability and 92 in economic mobility.

Australia was at the fourth place with a 75 per cent total opportunity score.

The island nation has amassed 66 points on earning potential, 79 on career advancement, 84 on employment prospects, 73 on premium education and 74 both on economic mobility and high livability.

The top 5 places ended with Canada standing in fifth position after it received a 74 per cent total opportunity score. Canada's employment prospects stood similar to that of Australia's

The North American nation amassed 67 points on earning potential, 79 on career advancement, 71 on premium education, 73 on economic mobility and 72 on high livability.

With 49 per cent on the total opportunity score, Greece stands last in the index of 15 nations.

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Boss Of Indian-Origin Staffer Behind Child Abuse Site Jailed In UK

A British mechanic who created and moderated sites dedicated to child sexual abuse on the dark web with the help of an Indian-origin staffer has been jailed for 16 years by Chester Crown Court in north-west England.

Nathan Bake, 28, sentenced on Wednesday, is one of three UK-based moderators of a site called ‘The Annex' who were identified by the UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) as part of an investigation targeting those behind the site.

His staffer, 33-year-old London-based psychiatrist Kabir Garg, was sentenced to six years' imprisonment by a UK court last year. He was also a moderator of the site and sat just below Bake in its hierarchy.

“Bake was one of a select number of individuals that played a vital role in ensuring The Annex continued to run and was able to facilitate child sexual abuse on a global scale,” said Daniel Waywell, NCA's Senior Investigating Officer.

“He started as a user himself, but worked his way up the rankings by actively sharing a substantial amount of material and encouraging the discussion of horrific abuse, thus gaining the trust of other moderators. Such was his dedication to this global community of paedophiles that he also committed his time, on top of his day job as a mechanic, to running and setting up other dark web sites that assisted their offending,” he said.

The Annex, which is no longer active, had around 90,000 global members who used it to share and discuss some of the most extreme kinds of abuse material, involving "hurtcore" and the sexual abuse of babies and toddlers.

As the head moderator, Bake was second in command of the entire site, which was run by an American man, who was sentenced to life in prison in the US in January.

Besides Garg, Bake was responsible for managing around 29 staff members and worked with them to enforce the site's rules and ensure it continued to run smoothly.

“Garg was involved in facilitating child sexual abuse on a significant scale. He used the dark web to access a global community of paedophiles sharing and discussing horrific crimes against children," NCA's Adam Priestley said at the time of Garg's sentencing in June 2023.

"He then ensured he was such a trusted and respected member that he was invited to become a member of staff, involved in its daily management. This organisation and willingness to enable other offenders raise his criminality to a higher, more appalling level,” he added.

Like Bake, Garg is also subject to a Serious Harm Prevention Order and is on the Sex Offenders Register for life.

The NCA said it worked with a number of international partners to target this group of moderators. A further 14 men have been charged in the US for their roles in helping to run The Annex, with eight receiving sentences of between six and 28 years.

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"UAE President Has Won The Hearts Of 140 Crore Indians": PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday inaugurated Abu Dhabi's first Hindu stone temple, describing it as a symbol of the shared heritage of humanity and thanking the UAE for scripting a new golden chapter of human history.

Speaking at the inauguration of the temple built by the Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS), the Prime Minister profusely thanked the President of UAE Sheikh Mohammad Zayed Al Nahyan for making the grand temple in Abu Dhabi a reality and said he has not only won the hearts of Indians living in the Gulf nation but also of 140 crore Indians.

"I hope that the BAPS Mandir will become a symbol of communal harmony and global unity for the whole world," PM Modi said, addressing a gathering that included UAE Tolerance Minister Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan and spiritual leaders from all faiths.

"We do not see hatred in diversity, we consider diversity as our specialty! In this temple, we will see a glimpse of diverse faiths at each and every step," PM Modi said.

He said the UAE, which till now was known for Burj Khalifa, Future Museum, Sheikh Zayed Mosque and other hi-tech buildings, has now added another cultural chapter to its identity.

"I am confident that a large number of devotees will come here in the times to come. This will also increase the number of people coming to the UAE and increase the people-to-people connect between the two countries," PM Modi said.

Lauding the contribution of the UAE president in making the grand temple a reality, he said, "If there is anyone who has the biggest and the most significant role in making this grand temple a reality, then it is none other than my brother His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed." "The Government of UAE has wholeheartedly worked to fulfill the aspirations of crores of Indians. The Government of UAE has not only won the hearts of Indians living in the UAE but also of all 140 crore Indians," he said.

The prime minister also recalled the consecration ceremony of the newly constructed Ram temple in Ayodhya last month.

"Our immense pleasure in Ayodhya has been further enhanced by the wave of happiness received in Abu Dhabi today. It is my good fortune that I have been a witness to the grand Shri Ram temple first in Ayodhya, and then to this temple in Abu Dhabi," he said.

"Just last month, the age-old dream of a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya was fulfilled. Ram Lalla is seated in his Bhavan! The whole of India and every Indian is still immersed in that feeling of love," PM Modi said.

The prime minister noted that this is not only the time of India's 'Amrit Kaal', this is also the time of 'Amrit Kaal' of our faith and culture.

Earlier, Prime Minister Modi, dressed in a light pink silk dhoti and kurta paired with a sleeveless jacket and stole, participated in rituals of a ceremony to dedicate the temple to the people.

PM Modi met people from different faiths who contributed to the construction of the first Hindu stone temple here.

The prime minister also offered water in the virtual Ganga and Yamuna rivers at the temple before proceeding to inaugurate the temple built on a 27-acre site in Abu Mreikhah, near Al Rahba off the Dubai-Abu Dhabi Sheikh Zayed Highway, at a cost of around Rs 700 crore.

He also inscribed "Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam" on stone using hammer and chisel at the temple.

According to the temple authorities, the grand temple has been built as per an ancient style of construction and creation mentioned in the Shilpa and Sthapathya Shastras, Hindu scriptures which describe the art for mandir design and construction.

"The architectural methods have been clubbed with scientific techniques here. Over 300 high-tech sensors have been installed at every level of the temple to measure temperature, pressure and movement (seismic activity). The sensors will provide live data for research. If there is any earthquake in the region, the temple will detect it, and we will be able to study," Swami Brahmaviharidas, head of international relations for BAPS, told PTI.

No metal has been used in the construction of the temple and fly ash has been used to fill up the foundation, replacing 55 per cent of cement in the concrete mix, reducing the carbon footprint of the temple.

Madhusudan Patel, the temple's construction manager, told PTI, "We have used heat-resistant nano tiles and heavy glass panels, merging both traditional aesthetic stone structures with modern-day functionality.

Considering the extreme temperatures in the UAE, the tiles will be comfortable for visitors to walk even in hot weather. Non-ferrous material has also been used in the temple." Constructed with 18 lakh bricks, seven lakh man hours and 1.8 lakh cubic metres of sandstone sourced directly from Rajasthan - Abu Dhabi's first Hindu temple has been made in the Nagara style of architecture, just like the recently inaugurated Ram Temple in Ayodhya.

According to Umesh Raja, a volunteer at the temple, 20,000 tonnes of sandstone pieces were carved in Rajasthan and then shipped to Abu Dhabi in 700 containers.

"Not just the stone, many labourers who helped construct the temple over five years belong to Gujarat and Rajasthan. Even the marble mined from Italy was first shipped to India for carving and then back to the UAE to be used in the interiors," he said.

The work for the structure has been going on since 2019. The land for the temple was donated by the UAE government. The UAE has three other Hindu temples that are located in Dubai. The BAPS temple, spread over a large area with stone architecture, will be the largest of all in the Gulf region.

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