US and Arab mediators made significant progress overnight toward brokering a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war and the release of scores of hostages held in the Gaza Strip, but a deal has not been reached yet, officials said Monday. Three officials acknowledged progress has been made and said the coming days would be critical for ending more than 15 months of fighting that has destabilized the Middle East. One of the three officials and a Hamas official said there were still a number of hurdles to clear. On several occasions over the past year, US officials have said they were on the verge of reaching a deal, only to have the talks stall. One person familiar with the talks said there had been a breakthrough overnight and that there was a proposed deal on the table. Israeli and Hamas negotiators will now take it back to their leaders for final approval, the person said. The person said mediators from the Gulf country of Qatar had put renewed pressure on Hamas to accept the agreement, while President-elect Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, was pressing the Israelis. Witkoff recently joined the negotiations and has been in the region in recent days. The person said the mediators had handed off the draft deal to each side and that the next 24 hours would be pivotal. US President Joe Biden, who hopes to wrap up a deal before leaving office next week, spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the talks on Sunday. 46KApprox. no. of Palestinians killed since October 7, 2023 This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
14 January,2025 10:34 AM IST | Cairo | AgenciesSouth Korea’s spy agency told lawmakers on Monday that two North Korean soldiers who were captured by Ukrainian forces while fighting alongside Russian forces in Russia’s Kursk border region haven’t expressed a desire to seek asylum in South Korea. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on the social media platform X that he’s willing to hand over the soldiers to North Korea if the country’s authoritarian leader, Kim Jong Un, arranges for an exchange with Ukrainian prisoners of war in Russia. Zelensky added that “there may be other options” for North Korean soldiers who do not wish to return home, and a video released by his government indicated that at least one of the captured soldiers expressed a desire to remain in Ukraine. In a closed-door briefing at South Korea’s National Assembly, the National Intelligence Service confirmed its participation in the questioning of the North Korean soldiers by Ukrainian authorities. The agency said the soldiers haven’t expressed a request to resettle in South Korea, according to two lawmakers who attended the meeting. The agency said it was willing to discuss the matter with Ukraine if the soldiers ask to go to South Korea. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
14 January,2025 10:31 AM IST | Seoul | AgenciesAn annual architectural celebration of ice is up and running again in New Hampshire and several other states. Ice castles, which are both temporary art installations and tourist attractions, feature towers, tunnels, archways and caves, all created by growing, harvesting and arranging thousands of icicles and then blasting them with sprinklers. This year there are displays in Utah, Minnesota, two locations in Colorado and New Hampshire, where the site includes an ice bar. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
14 January,2025 10:25 AM IST | Colorado | AgenciesJeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin called off the debut launch of its massive new rocket early Monday because of technical trouble. The 320-foot New Glenn rocket was supposed to blast off with a prototype satellite from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station but there was an unspecified rocket issue in the final minutes of the countdown. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
14 January,2025 10:07 AM IST | Cape Canaveral | AgenciesFirefighters scrambled on Sunday to make further progress against wildfires that have destroyed thousands of homes and killed 24 people in the Los Angeles area as forecasters again warned of dangerous weather with the return of strong winds this week. At least 16 people were missing, and authorities said that number was expected to rise. The National Weather Service issued red flag warnings for severe fire conditions through Wednesday, with sustained winds of 80 kmph and gusts in the mountains reaching 113 kmph. Meanwhile, officials were building an online database to allow evacuated residents to see if their homes were damaged or destroyed. About 1,50,000 people in Los Angeles County remained under evacuation orders. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
14 January,2025 09:54 AM IST | Los Angeles | AgenciesThe US is "winning" the worldwide competition while its adversaries are facing headwinds, President Joe Biden said on Monday. The 82-year-old outgoing president drove to the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the US State Department to deliver his last foreign policy speech in which he highlighted the achievements of his administration and how the world had changed in the past four years. "A new era has begun. In these four years, we faced crises that we've been tested. We've come through those tests stronger, in my view, than we entered those tests. This is a fierce competition (that is) underway, the future of the global economy, technology, human values and so much else. Right now, in my view, thanks to our administration, the United States is winning the worldwide competition," Biden said. He added that, compared to four years ago, the US was stronger, its alliances were stronger while its adversaries and competitors were weaker. "We have not gone to war to make these things happen. During my presidency, I've increased America's power in every dimension. We increased our diplomatic power, creating more allies the US has ever had in the history of our nation," he asserted. "We have increased our military power, making the most significant investments in the defence industrial base in decades. We've increased the technology power, taking the lead in artificial intelligence and other technologies of the future. And we've increased the economic power, building the most dynamic economy in the world from the bottom up and the middle out, not the top down," the president added. Biden asserted that the US had become "stronger at home, stronger in the world" since he and Vice-President Kamala Harris took office. "¿now, America is more capable and I would argue, better prepared than we've been in a long, long time. While our competitors and adversaries are facing stiff headwinds, we have the wind at our back because of all of you," he said. "This is what we're heading into and over the next administration, that's what we're handing it to," Biden added. The president laid out what his administration had done, the opportunities created for the US and those opportunities going forward. "Today, I can report to the American people, our sources of national power are far stronger than we were when we took office. Our economy is booming, although there's more work to do. Our technologies, from artificial intelligence to biotech quantum to advanced semiconductors, they're the envy of the world. And we have made the most significant investments in America and the American workers since the New Deal. To rebuild, our roads and bridges our ports and airports, clean water systems, affordable high-speed Internet and so much more," he said. Biden also said the US's alliances were stronger than they had been in decades. NATO is more capable than it's ever been and many more of its allies are paying their fair share, he said. "Before I took office, nine NATO allies were spending 2 per cent of their GDP on defence. Now 23 are spending 2 per cent." "Look at the Indo-Pacific. We've made partnerships stronger and created new partnerships to challenge China's aggressive behaviour and to rebalance power in the region. We did it, what few thought was possible, to build the first ever trilateral partnership between the US, Japan and South Korea, then another among the US, Japan and the Philippines, drawing closer our Pacific allies to defend our shared security and prosperity," he said. Biden highlighted brokering a defence pact known as AUKUS among the US, Australia and the US, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific allies "as only America is able to do". "And we've taken the Quad to the next level, the US, Japan, Australia and India. When we had that first meeting, I was dumbfounded when they all called and said can we do this at your house," Biden said. The outgoing president also said his administration had reinvigorated people's faith in the US as a true partner. "Today, I can report to the American people, our adversaries are weaker than they were when we came into this job. Just consider Russia. When Putin invaded Ukraine, he thought he'd conquer Kyiv in a matter of days." "But the truth is, since that war began, I'm the only one that stood in the centre of Kyiv, not him. Putin never has. It was a long train ride, but I'm the only commander in chief to visit a war zone not controlled by US forces. We helped Ukrainians stop Putin and now, nearly three years later, Putin has failed to achieve any of his of his strategic objectives. He has failed to subjugate Ukraine, failed to break the break the unity of NATO, and failed to make large territorial gains," Biden asserted. He also observed that the US was in a better strategic position in the long-term competition with China than it was four years ago. "Today, I can also report to the American people, we're the first president in decades who's not leaving a war in Afghanistan to his successor. When we got (Osama) bin Laden during the Obama-Biden administration, the primary objective of the war had been accomplished. I believe that going forward, the primary threat of al-Qaida would no longer be emanating from Afghanistan but from elsewhere," Biden said. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
14 January,2025 09:42 AM IST | Washington | PTIAt least 100 people who were mining illegally in an abandoned gold mine in South Africa have died after being trapped deep underground for months while police tried to get them out, a group representing the miners said on Monday. Sabelo Mnguni, a spokesman for the Mining Affected Communities United in Action Group told AP that a mobile phone sent to the surface with some rescued miners on Friday had two videos on it showing dozens of bodies underground wrapped in plastic. Mnguni said "a minimum" of 100 men had died in the mine in North West province where police first launched an operation in November to force the miners out. They were suspected to have died of starvation or dehydration, he said. He said 18 bodies have been brought out since Friday. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
14 January,2025 09:35 AM IST | Johannesburg | APA strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.9 has hit southwestern Japan, the country's Meteorological Agency said Monday. Tsunami warnings were issued for Miyazaki Prefecture, where the temblor was centred, in the southwestern island of Kyushu, as well as nearby Kochi Prefecture, shortly after the quake struck at 9:19 pm local time, according to the agency. The extent of damage was not immediately clear. Japan is frequently hit by earthquakes because of its location along the 'Ring of Fire,' an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever.
13 January,2025 06:50 PM IST | Tokyo | APUS President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday slammed the officials responsible for handling raging wildfires in Los Angeles, calling them "incompetent." Taking to the social media platform Truth Social, Trump criticised the situation, stating that it was one of the worst catastrophes in US history. "The fires are still raging in L.A. The incompetent pols have no idea how to put them out. Thousands of magnificent houses are gone, and many more will soon be lost. There is death all over the place. This is one of the worst catastrophes in the history of our country. They just can't put out the fires. What's wrong with them?" the President-elect said. Meanwhile, according to the New York Post, citing officials, at least 16 people have been killed in the wildfires and nearly 200,000 have been displaced. As many as 10,000 structures, along with entire residential neighbourhoods have been destroyed. As per the New York Post, while the Sunset fire has been contained, the Hurst fire has burnt 771 acres of land, the Kenneth fire has burnt 959 acres, the Eaton fire has burnt 13,690 acres, and the most destructive impact has been of the Palisades fire, which has burnt 19,978 acres of land. At least 35,000 acres of land have burnt down, an area about two-and-a-half times the size of Manhattan. On Sunday (local time), California's Governor, Gavin Newsom warned people against falling for misinformation regarding the Southern Californian wildfires. In a post on X, he said, "A lot of misinformation out there. Just launched a new site to ensure the public has access to fact-based data around the Southern CA wildfires. The TRUTH: - CA did NOT cut our firefighting budget. We have nearly doubled the size of our firefighting army and built the world's largest aerial firefighting fleet. - CA has INCREASED forest management ten-fold since we took office. - California will NOT allow for looting." This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
13 January,2025 08:23 AM IST | Washington DC | ANIEuropean foreign ministers have agreed to meet at the end of January to discuss the possibility of lifting sanctions on Syria following a regional meeting in Riyadh, where ministers and top diplomats from Western nations and gathered for the first such gathering since the fall of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad last month, Al Jazeera reported on Sunday. The European Union's (EU) foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, announced that the foreign ministers would meet in Brussels on January 27 to explore how the 27-member bloc might approach the issue of sanctions and emphasised that the EU wants to see an inclusive Syrian government that avoids "radicalisation" and respects the rights of women and minorities while stressing that the bloc could quickly reverse any moves to ease sanctions, as reported by Al Jazeera. Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister, Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, also called for the lifting of sanctions on Syria, noting that continued sanctions hinder Syria's development and reconstruction. "We stressed the importance of lifting unilateral and international sanctions imposed on Syria, as their continuation hinders the aspirations of the Syrian people to achieve development and reconstruction," Al Saud said as quoted by Al Jazeera. Syria's new Foreign Minister, Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani, who has long advocated for the removal of sanctions, also attended the talks alongside foreign ministers from the region, including those from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey. The meeting also included the US Under Secretary of State John Bass, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy. A statement from the Saudi foreign ministry following the talks reaffirmed the call for lifting sanctions to aid Syria's reconstruction and expressed concerns over Israel's actions in the Golan Heights. "[Steps were discussed to] support the brotherly Syrian people and provide them with all aid and support at this important stage in their history and helping them rebuild Syria as a unified, independent, safe Arab state for all its citizens, with no place for terrorism, no breach of its sovereignty, and no attack on its territorial integrity," the statement read as quoted by Al Jazeera. The conference comes as Syria's new administration, led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), has called for Western sanctions to be lifted to allow international funding into the country. Earlier, US issued a six-month sanctions exemption for transactions with Syrian governing institutions to facilitate humanitarian assistance, Al Jazeera reported. Germany, Italy, and France have recently advocated for relaxing EU sanctions on Syria, but any final decision will require approval from all EU members. Kallas pointed out that any sanctions relief would focus on those hindering the country's rebuilding, such as those restricting access to banking services, Al Jazeera reported. According to Al Jazeera, Germany's Baerbock stated that sanctions against al-Assad's allies, who committed serious crimes during the war, must remain in place, but Germany seeks a "smart approach" to sanctions that would offer relief to the Syrian population. "Germany proposes to take a smart approach to sanctions, providing relief for the Syrian population. Syrians now need a quick dividend from the transition of power," Baerbock stated, as quoted by Al Jazeera. The meeting in Riyadh marked the first time Syria's new rulers participated in discussions with Western officials. It followed diplomatic meetings in Rome on Thursday and Jordan in December, where regional powers expressed concerns about Syria's new leadership and the steps needed to secure international recognition. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
13 January,2025 08:19 AM IST | Riyadh | ANIA one-of-its-kind app developed by an Indian-origin entrepreneur to empower people with disabilities, a flavour-enhancing electric salt spoon, an aircraft that can fit in a car’s trunk—technological advancements shaping the world’s future took centre stage at the biggest tech showcase here. CES 2025, hosted at the gigantic Las Vegas Convention Centre and other venues in the city from January 7 to January 10, featured over 4,500 exhibitors, including about 1,400 startups, with over 1,41,000 attendees, of which 40 per cent were international—from over 150 countries, regions, and territories. At Eureka Park that displayed innovations by start-ups from around the world, Indian-origin entrepreneur from Atlanta Angad Sahgal showcased ‘LetMeDoIt’, an app founded by him and his father Amit Sahgal. The first disability-focused decision making app, it enables people with disabilities, their care providers, senior citizens to have “decision autonomy”, whether it relates to everyday life decisions or managing personal finances, Amit Sahgal said. Angad Sahgal, who was born with Down Syndrome, said the app is “all about making your choice and having a voice”. Kirin Holdings’ flavour-enhancing spoon. Pic/Kyodo Another break-through innovation on display was the flavour-enhancing electric salt spoon by Japanese company Kirin Holdings. Using a mild electric current, the spoon “amplifies flavours such as saltiness” making low-sodium meals more palatable. The electric spoon was the CES Innovation Awards 2025 honouree in the digital health and age tech categories. Another exhibit that drew a lot of interest at the trade show was ‘Land Aircraft Carrier’ modular flying car by Chinese company XPENG AEROHT. Showcasing the “world’s only aircraft that can fit in a car’s trunk”, the company displayed ground-breaking innovation in the field of mobility. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
13 January,2025 08:11 AM IST | Las Vegas | AgenciesADVERTISEMENT
