Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a strategic tunnel on Monday in the northeast region of disputed Kashmir, ensuring year-round access to a town previously isolated by heavy winter snowfall. The $932 million project includes a newly opened 6.5-kilometer (4-mile) Z-Morh tunnel and plans for a second, 14-kilometer (9-mile) tunnel expected by 2026. The development aims to connect Kashmir with Ladakh, a region with longstanding territorial disputes involving India, Pakistan, and China. India begins a massive Hindu festival touted as the world's largest religious gathering The Z-Morh tunnel ensures all-season connectivity to Sonamarg, a town marking the transition between the Kashmir Valley's forests and the rugged Zojila mountain pass leading to Ladakh. Severe snowfalls have historically cut off this area from neighboring regions for half the year. During the high-security visit, Modi addressed the public and emphasized the tunnel's significance for both civilians and the military. Enhanced security measures included police deployment, checkpoints, sharpshooters, and drone surveillance. In October, insurgents targeted the project, killing seven workers and injuring five others. Authorities attributed the attack to militants opposing Indian rule in the region. The project is expected to strengthen military logistics in Ladakh, a sensitive area bordering China and Pakistan, while also improving civilian mobility between the Kashmir Valley and Ladakh. Freed by India 90 Bangladeshi fishermen are due to arrive in Ctg this afternoon The opening comes amidst ongoing tensions in Kashmir, following the Indian government’s controversial 2019 decision to revoke the region’s semi-autonomous status and divide it into two federally governed territories. Kashmir remains a focal point of conflict between India and Pakistan, with both nations claiming the region in its entirety. The decades-long insurgency has resulted in significant loss of life among civilians, militants, and security forces.

An undated video of SN Subrahmanyan, Chairman of Larsen & Toubro (L&T), suggesting a 90-hour workweek has sparked widespread debate online. In the clip, he remarked, “I regret I am not able to make you work on Sundays. If I can make you work on Sundays, I will be more happy because I work on Sundays. What do you do sitting at home? How long can you stare at your wife? How long can the wife stare at the husband?” The comments quickly drew backlash on social media, reigniting discussions about work-life balance and mental health. L&T’s Controversial ClarificationL&T later issued a clarification that only intensified the debate. The statement read:“At L&T, nation-building is at the core of our mandate. For over eight decades, we have been shaping India’s infrastructure, industries, and technological capabilities. We believe this is India’s decade, a time demanding collective dedication and effort to drive progress and realise our shared vision of becoming a developed nation. The Chairman’s remarks reflect this larger ambition, emphasizing that extraordinary outcomes require extraordinary effort. At L&T, we remain committed to fostering a culture where passion, purpose, and performance drive us forward.” Similar Remarks from Infosys Co-founderThis incident follows a similar controversy in October 2023, when Infosys co-founder N R Narayana Murthy suggested a 70-hour workweek to help India compete with rapidly growing nations like China and Japan. Public and Celebrity BacklashActor Deepika Padukone expressed her disapproval on Instagram, calling the remarks “shocking” and emphasizing the importance of mental health. After L&T’s clarification, she added, “And they just made it worse…” Former badminton champion Jwala Gutta also criticized the remarks, stating on X, “Why shouldn’t he stare at his wife? And why only on a Sunday? It’s sad and sometimes unbelievable that educated people in leadership positions dismiss mental health and rest so casually while making misogynistic statements. It’s disappointing and scary.” Professional and Psychological PerspectivesIndustry professionals have weighed in on the debate. Vijetha Shenoy, an HR Business Partner at an IT firm, dismissed the comment as frivolous, suggesting, “He would be better off pursuing a hobby if he has so little to occupy his time.” Ranjay Kumar, another HR professional, offered a more nuanced view: “The younger generation values work-life balance and prioritizes taking breaks to recharge. However, some professionals willingly commit to longer hours due to job insecurity or financial responsibilities.” Clinical psychologist Pulkit Kumar highlighted the impact of overworking on mental and physical health. “Chasing goals constantly leads to stress, and we’ve observed rising cases of heart problems, high blood pressure, and diabetes among younger individuals, some in their 20s and 30s. We need to optimize work with AI to support well-being, not compromise it.” With input from Hindustan Times

Rescuers recovered the bodies of 11 coal miners who died last week after a methane gas explosion caused a coal mine to collapse in southwestern Pakistan, officials said Monday. An operation is still underway to find a 12th worker who has been missing since Thursday, when the mine collapsed in Singidi city in Balochistan province, said Abdul Ghani, a mines inspector. Two more coal miners were killed on Sunday when another mine collapsed in Harnai, a district in Balochistan, he said. Safety standards are commonly ignored in the coal mining industry in Pakistan, leading to accidents and explosions that kill dozens of mine workers every year. Miners often complain that owners fail to install safety equipment. Read: 3 Pakistani soldiers, 19 insurgents killed in separate raids in northwest Last week, Pakistani security forces also rescued at least eight of 16 mine workers who had been kidnapped by local militants in the restive northwest, and an operation is still underway to rescue the remaining miners.

South 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 Zelenskyy 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. Zelenskyy 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 Ukrainian authorities if the soldiers eventually do ask to go to South Korea. About 34,000 North Koreans have defected to capitalist rival South Korea to avoid economic hardship and political suppression at home, mostly since the late 1990s. Koo Byoungsam, spokesperson of South Korea’s Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, said facilitating the asylum of the North Korean soldiers would require “legal reviews, including on international law, and consultations with related nations.” “There’s nothing we can say at the current stage,” Koo said. Read: Ukraine claims to have captured 2 North Korean soldiers fighting for Russia Seoul’s spy agency believes that about 300 North Korean soldiers have died and another 2,700 have been injured while fighting against Ukrainian forces, in what represents North Korea's first involvement in large-scale conflict since the 1950-53 Korean War. The agency assessed that the North Koreans are struggling to adapt to drones and other elements of modern warfare. They are further disadvantaged by the crude tactics of their Russian commanders, who have thrown them in assault campaigns without providing rear-fire support, according to Lee Seong Kweun, a lawmaker who attended the agency’s briefing. The agency said memos found on dead North Korean soldiers indicated that they had been ordered to commit suicide before being captured, according to Lee. The agency said one North Korean soldier, facing the threat of being captured by Ukrainian forces, shouted “General Kim Jong Un” and tried to detonate a hand grenade before he was shot and killed. Zelenskyy confirmed the capture of the North Korean soldiers on Saturday, days after Ukraine, facing a slow Russian onslaught in the east, began pressing new attacks in Kursk to retain ground captured in a lightning incursion in August — the first occupation of Russian territory since World War II. Moscow’s counterattack has left Ukrainian forces outstretched and demoralized, killing and wounding thousands and retaking more than 40% of the 984 square kilometers (380 square miles) of Kursk that Ukraine had seized. Moon Seong Mook, a retired South Korean brigadier general, said the high death toll for North Korean soldiers was predictable, as they would not have been sufficiently prepared for an unfamiliar mission in the terrain of the Kursk region, which is vastly different from North Korea’s mountainous landscape. Read more: North Korea tests hypersonic missile aimed at remote Pacific areas Another disadvantage for the North Koreans is that they are not conducting independent operations but are being thrust into combat under Russian commanders, possibly struggling with unfamiliar tactics and communication issues due to language barriers, said Moon, who has taken part in numerous military talks with North Korea. The North Korean forces could be operating special surveillance teams to arrest or execute attempted deserters, he said. “The current battlefield environment, combined with drones and other technologies, have created situations North Korean soldiers have never encountered before,” Moon said. “They are also being deployed in large numbers in wide-open fields, where there is no place to hide, in continuous battles to retake the area, and that seems to be where the casualties are coming from.” North Korea’s decadeslong financial troubles, which have forced many soldiers to grow their own food or spend long hours deployed in construction and other work to sustain the national economy, could also have impacted the quality of training they receive at home, Moon said. Still, there are concerns in Seoul that North Korea’s participation in the Ukraine crisis poses a significant threat to South Korea, as North Korean forces may gain crucial combat experience and Russia may provide technology transfers that could enhance North Korea’s nuclear-armed army.

An emergency task force arrived in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region on Sunday as an oil spill in the Kerch Strait from two storm-stricken tankers continues to spread a month after it was first detected, officials said. The task force, which includes Emergency Situations Minister Alexander Kurenkov, was set up after Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday called on authorities to ramp up the response to the spill, calling it “one of the most serious environmental challenges we have faced in recent years." Kurenkov said that “the most difficult situation” had developed near the port of Taman in the Krasnodar region, where fuel oil continues to leak into the sea from the damaged part of the Volgoneft-239 tanker. Kurenkov was quoted as saying by Russian state news agency RIA Novosti that the remaining oil will be pumped out of the tanker's stern. The Emergencies Ministry said Saturday that over 155,000 tons of contaminated sand and soil had been collected since oil spilled out of two tankers during a storm four weeks ago in the Kerch Strait, which separates the Russia-occupied Crimean Peninsula from the Krasnodar region. Russian-installed officials in Ukraine’s partially Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia region said Saturday that the mazut — a heavy, low-quality oil product — had reached the Berdyansk Spit, some 145 kilometers (90 miles) north of the Kerch Strait. It contaminated an area 14 1/2-kilometer (9-mile) long, Moscow-installed Gov. Yevgeny Balitsky wrote on Telegram. Russian-appointed officials in Moscow-occupied Crimea announced a regional emergency last weekend after oil was detected on the shores of Sevastopol, the peninsula’s largest city, about 250 kilometers (155 miles) from the Kerch Strait. Read: Oil spill in Meghna river threatening environment, vessel still not recovered after 36 hours In response to Putin’s call for action, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi accused Russia of “beginning to demonstrate its alleged ‘concern’ only after the scale of the disaster became too obvious to conceal its terrible consequences.” “Russia’s practice of first ignoring the problem, then admitting its inability to solve it, and ultimately leaving the entire Black Sea region alone with the consequences is yet another proof of its international irresponsibility,” Tykhyi said Friday. The Kerch Strait is an important global shipping route, providing passage from the inland Sea of Azov to the Black Sea. It has also been a key point of conflict between Russia and Ukraine after Moscow annexed the peninsula in 2014. In 2016, Ukraine took Moscow to the Permanent Court of Arbitration, where it accused Russia of trying to seize control of the area illegally. In 2021, Russia closed the strait for several months. Read more: Records show slow response to report of California oil spill Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the head of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office, described the oil spill last month as a “large-scale environmental disaster” and called for additional sanctions on Russian tankers.

Investigators are considering an array of possible ignition sources for the huge fires that have killed at least 24 people and destroyed thousands of homes and businesses in the Los Angeles area. In hilly, upscale Pacific Palisades, home to Hollywood stars like Jamie Lee Curtis and Billy Crystal who lost houses in the fire, officials have placed the origin of the wind-whipped blaze behind a home on Piedra Morada Drive, which sits above a densely wooded arroyo. While lightning is the most common source of fires in the U.S., according to the National Fire Protection Association, investigators were able to rule that out quickly. There were no reports of lightning in the Palisades area or the terrain around the Eaton Fire, which started in east Los Angeles County and has also destroyed hundreds of homes. 24 killed as firefighters battle Los Angeles blazes ahead of strong winds this week The next two most common causes: fires intentionally set, and those sparked by utility lines. John Lentini, owner of Scientific Fire Analysis in Florida, who has investigated large fires in California including the Oakland Hills Fire in 1991, said the size and scope of the blaze doesn’t change the approach to finding out what caused it. “This was once a small fire,” Lentini said. “People will focus on where the fire started, determine the origin and look around the origin and determine the cause.” So far there has been no official indication of arson in either blaze, and utility lines have not yet been identified as a cause either. Utilities are required to report to the California Public Utilities Commission when they know of “electric incidents potentially associated with a wildfire,” Terrie Prosper, the commission's communications director, said via email. CPUC staff then investigate to see if there were violations of state law. Los Angeles wildfires : Owner of ‘last house standing’ says how it survived The 2017 Thomas Fire, one of the largest fires in state history, was sparked by Southern California Edison power lines that came into contact during high wind, investigators determined. The blaze killed two people and charred more than 440 square miles (1,140 square kilometers). On Friday, Southern California Edison filed a report with the CPUC related to the Eaton Fire in the hills near Pasadena, an area the utility serves. Edison said it has not received any suggestions that its equipment was involved in the ignition of that fire, but that it filed the report with state utilities regulators out of “an abundance of caution” after receiving evidence preservation notices from insurance company lawyers. “Preliminary analysis by SCE of electrical circuit information for the energized transmission lines going through the area for 12 hours prior to the reported start time of the fire shows no interruptions or electrical or operational anomalies until more than one hour after the reported start time of the fire,” the utility reported. While lightning, arson and utility lines are the most common causes, debris burning and fireworks are also common causes. LA wildfire death toll rises as crews fight strong winds to protect homes, landmarks But fires are incited by myriad sources, including accidents. In 2021, a couple's gender reveal stunt started a large fire that torched close to 36 square miles (about 90 square kilometers) of terrain, destroyed five homes and 15 other buildings and claimed the life of a firefighter, Charlie Morton. The Eaton and Palisades fires were still burning with little containment on Friday. Winds softened, but there was no rain in the forecast as the flames moved through miles of dry landscape. “It’s going to go out when it runs out of fuel, or when the weather stops,” Lentini said. “They’re not going to put that thing out until it’s ready to go out.”

Firefighters scrambled 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 50 mph (80 kph) and gusts in the mountains reaching 70 mph (113 kph). The most dangerous day will be Tuesday, said weather service meteorologist Rich Thompson. “You’re going to have really strong gusty Santa Ana winds, a very dry atmosphere and still very dry brush, so we still have some very critical fire weather conditions out there,” Thompson said at a community meeting Saturday night. Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony C. Marrone said 70 additional water trucks arrived to help firefighters fend off flames spread by renewed gusts. “We are prepared for the upcoming wind event,” Marrone said. Fire retardant dropped by aircraft Sunday will act as a barrier along hillsides, officials said. Fierce Santa Anas have been largely blamed for turning the wildfires sparked last week into infernos that leveled entire neighborhoods around the city where there has been no significant rainfall in more than eight months. Twelve people were missing within the Eaton Fire zone and four were missing from the Palisades Fire, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said. Luna added that “dozens” more reports might have come in Sunday morning and investigators were reconciling whether some of the missing might be among the dead. There are no children among those reported missing, he said. Meanwhile, the death toll rose to 24 over the weekend. Eight of the deaths were attributed to the Palisades Fire and 16 resulted from the Eaton Fire, the Los Angeles County coroner’s office said in a statement Sunday evening. Officials said they expected that figure to increase as teams with cadaver dogs conduct systematic grid searches in leveled neighborhoods. Authorities have established a center where people can report the missing. Officials also were building an online database to allow evacuated residents to see if their homes were damaged or destroyed. In the meantime, LA city Fire Chief Kristin Crowley urged people to stay away from scorched neighborhoods. “There are still active fires that are burning within the Palisades area, making it extremely, extremely dangerous for the public," Crowley said at a Sunday morning briefing. “There’s no power, there’s no water, there’s broken gas lines, and we have unstable structures.” Officials warned the ash can contain lead, arsenic, asbestos and other harmful materials. About 150,000 people in Los Angeles County remained under evacuation orders, with more than 700 residents taking refuge in nine shelters, Luna said. Officials said most of the orders in the Palisades area were unlikely to be lifted before the red flag warnings expire Wednesday evening. “Please rest assured that first thing Thursday we will begin talking about repopulation,” Marrone said. By Sunday morning, Cal Fire reported the Palisades, Eaton, Kenneth and Hurst fires had consumed more than 62 square miles (160 square kilometers), an area larger than San Francisco. The Palisades Fire was 11% contained and containment on the Eaton Fire reached 27%. Those two blazes accounted for 59 square miles (nearly 153 square kilometers). Crews from California and nine other states are part of the ongoing response that includes nearly 1,400 fire engines, 84 aircraft and more than 14,000 personnel, including newly arrived firefighters from Mexico. Fighting to save public and private areas Minimal growth was expected Sunday for the Eaton Fire “with continued smoldering and creeping” of flames, an LA County Fire Department incident report said. Most evacuation orders for the area have been lifted. After a fierce battle Saturday, firefighters managed to fight back flames in Mandeville Canyon, home to Arnold Schwarzenegger and other celebrities near Pacific Palisades not far from the coast, where swooping helicopters dumped water as the blaze charged downhill. The fire ran through chaparral-covered hillsides and also briefly threatened to jump over Interstate 405 and into densely populated areas in the Hollywood Hills and San Fernando Valley. Arrests for looting Looting continues to be a concern, with authorities reporting more arrests as the devastation grows. Michael Lorenz, a captain with the Los Angeles Police Department, said seven people have been arrested in recent days, with two suspects “posing as firefighters coming and in and out of houses.” Asked exactly how many looters have been arrested, Lorenz said he couldn’t give a precise number but that officers were detaining about 10 people a day. California National Guard troops arrived Friday to help guard properties. California Gov. Gavin Newsom posted on X Saturday that “California will NOT allow for looting.” Historical cost The fires that began Tuesday just north of downtown LA have burned more than 12,000 structures. No cause has been determined for the largest fires and early estimates indicate the wildfires could be the nation's costliest ever. A preliminary estimate by AccuWeather put the damage and economic losses so far between $135 billion and $150 billion. In an interview that aired Sunday on NBC, Gov. Gavin Newsom said the fires could end up being the worst natural disaster in U.S. history. “I think it will be in terms of just the costs associated with it, in terms of the scale and scope,” he said. Inmate firefighters on the front linesAlong with crews from other states and Mexico, hundreds of inmates from California’s prison system were also helping firefighting efforts. Nearly 950 incarcerated firefighters were dispatched “to cut fire lines and remove fuel to slow fire spread,” according to an update from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Though the state has long relied on prison labor to fight fires, the practice is controversial as the inmates are paid little for dangerous and difficult work. Inmates are paid up to roughly $10.24 each day, with additional money for 24-hour shifts, according to the corrections department. Overflowing kindness Volunteers overflowed donation centers and some had to be turned away at locations including the Santa Anita Park horse racing track, where people who lost their homes sifted through stacks of donated shirts, blankets and other household goods. Altadena resident Jose Luis Godinez said three homes occupied by more than a dozen of his family members were destroyed. “Everything is gone,” he said, speaking in Spanish. "All my family lived in those three houses and now we have nothing.” Rebuilding will be a challenge Newsom issued an executive order Sunday aimed at fast-tracking the rebuilding of destroyed property by suspending some environmental regulations and ensuring that property tax assessments are not increased. “We’ve got to let people know that we have their back,” he said. “Don’t walk away because we want you to come back, rebuild, and rebuild with higher quality building standards, more modern standards. We want to make sure that the associated costs with that are not disproportionate, especially in a middle-class community like this.” The White House said as of Sunday more than 24,000 people have registered for federal assistance made available by President Joe Biden's major disaster declaration last Wednesday. LA Mayor Karen Bass said Sunday that she has spoken with members of the incoming presidential administration and said she expects Donald Trump will come visit the devastated region. Leadership accused of skimping Bass faces a critical test of her leadership during the city's greatest crisis in decades, but allegations of leadership failures, political blame and investigations have begun. Newsom on Friday ordered state officials to determine why a 117 million-gallon (440 million-liter) reservoir was out of service and some hydrants had run dry. Crowley, the LA fire chief, said city leadership failed her department by not providing enough money for firefighting. She also criticized the lack of water. “When a firefighter comes up to a hydrant, we expect there’s going to be water,” Crowley said.

Millions of Hindu devotees, mystics and holy men and women from all across India flocked to the northern city of Prayagraj on Monday to kickstart the Maha Kumbh festival, which is being touted as the world's largest religious gathering. Over about the next six weeks, Hindu pilgrims with gather at the confluence of three sacred rivers — the Ganges, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati — where they will take part in elaborate rituals, hoping to begin a journey to achieve Hindu philosophy’s ultimate goal: the release from the cycle of rebirth. Here’s what to know about the festival: A religious gathering at the confluence of three sacred rivers Hindus venerate rivers, and none more so than the Ganges and the Yamuna. The faithful believe that a dip in their waters will cleanse them of their past sins and end their process of reincarnation, particularly on auspicious days. The most propitious of these days occur in cycles of 12 years during a festival called the Maha Kumbh Mela, or pitcher festival. The festival is a series of ritual baths by Hindu sadhus, or holy men, and other pilgrims at the confluence of three sacred rivers that dates to at least medieval times. Hindus believe that the mythical Saraswati river once flowed from the Himalayas through Prayagraj, meeting there with the Ganges and the Yamuna. Bathing takes place every day, but on the most auspicious dates, naked, ash-smeared monks charge toward the holy rivers at dawn. Many pilgrims stay for the entire festival, observing austerity, giving alms and bathing at sunrise every day. “We feel peaceful here and attain salvation from the cycles of life and death,” said Bhagwat Prasad Tiwari, a pilgrim. The festival has its roots in a Hindu tradition that says the god Vishnu wrested a golden pitcher containing the nectar of immortality from demons. Hindus believe that a few drops fell in the cities of Prayagraj, Nasik, Ujjain and Haridwar — the four places where the Kumbh festival has been held for centuries. The Kumbh rotates among these four pilgrimage sites about every three years on a date prescribed by astrology. This year’s festival is the biggest and grandest of them all. A smaller version of the festival, called Ardh Kumbh, or Half Kumbh, was organized in 2019, when 240 million visitors were recorded, with about 50 million taking a ritual bath on the busiest day. Maha Kumb is the world's largest such gathering At least 400 million people — more than the population of the United States — are expected in Prayagraj over the next 45 days, according to officials. That is around 200 times the 2 million pilgrims that arrived in the Muslim holy cities of Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia for the annual Hajj pilgrimage last year. The festival is a big test for Indian authorities to showcase the Hindu religion, tourism and crowd management. A vast ground along the banks of the rivers has been converted into a sprawling tent city equipped with more 3,000 kitchens and 150,000 restrooms. Divided into 25 sections and spreading over 40 square kilometers (15 square miles), the tent city also has housing, roads, electricity and water, communication towers and 11 hospitals. Murals depicting stories from Hindu scriptures are painted on the city walls. Indian Railways has also introduced more than 90 special trains that will make nearly 3,300 trips during the festival to transport devotees, beside regular trains. About 50,000 security personnel — a 50% increase from 2019 — are also stationed in the city to maintain law and order and crowd management. More than 2,500 cameras, some powered by AI, will send crowd movement and density information to four central control rooms, where officials can quickly deploy personnel to avoid stampedes. The festival will boost Modi's support base India’s past leaders have capitalized on the festival to strengthen their relationship with the country’s Hindus, who make up nearly 80% of India’s more than 1.4 billion people. But under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the festival has become an integral part of its advocacy of Hindu nationalism. For Modi and his party, Indian civilization is inseparable from Hinduism, although critics say the party's philosophy is rooted in Hindu supremacy. The Uttar Pradesh state, headed by Adityanath — a powerful Hindu monk and a popular hard-line Hindu politician in Modi’s party — has allocated more than $765 million for this year’s event. It has also used the festival to boost his and the prime minister’s image, with giant billboards and posters all over the city showing them both, alongside slogans touting their government welfare policies. The festival is expected to boost the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party’s past record of promoting Hindu cultural symbols for its support base. But recent Kumbh gatherings have also been caught in controversies. Modi's government changed the city’s Mughal-era name from Allahabad to Prayagraj as part of its Muslim-to-Hindu name-changing effort nationwide ahead of the 2019 festival and the national election that his party won. In 2021, his government refused to call off the festival in Haridwar despite a surge in coronavirus cases, fearing a backlash from religious leaders in the Hindu-majority country.  

President Joe Biden spoke Sunday with relatives of three Americans the U.S. government is looking to bring home from Afghanistan, but no agreement has been reached on a deal to get them back, family members said. Biden's call with family members of Ryan Corbett, George Glezmann and Mahmood Habibi took place in the waning days of his administration as officials try to negotiate a deal that could bring them home in exchange for Muhammad Rahim, one of the remaining detainees at Guantanamo Bay. Corbett, who had lived in Afghanistan with his family at the time of the 2021 collapse of the U.S.-backed government, was abducted by the Taliban in August 2022 while on a business trip and Glezmann, an airline mechanic from Atlanta, was taken by the Taliban's intelligence services in December 2022 while traveling through the country. Officials believe the Taliban is still holding both men as well as Habibi, an Afghan American businessman who worked as a contractor for a Kabul-based telecommunications company and also went missing in 2022. The FBI has said that Habibi and his driver were taken along with 29 other employees of the company, but that all except for Habibi and another person have since been freed. The Taliban has denied that it has Habibi, complicating talks with the U.S. government and the prospect of finalizing a deal. On the call Sunday, Biden told the families that his administration would not trade Rahim, who has been held at Guantanamo since 2008, unless the Taliban releases Habibi, according to a statement from Habibi's brother, Ahmad Habibi. “President Biden was very clear in telling us that he would not trade Rahim if the Taliban do not let my brother go,” the statement said. “He said he would not leave him behind. My family is very grateful that he is standing up for my brother.” Dennis Fitzpatrick, a lawyer acting on behalf of Glezmann's family, expressed dismay at the lack of progress, saying in a statement, “President Biden and his national security adviser are choosing to leave George Glezmann in Afghanistan. A deal is available to bring him home. The White House's inaction in this case is inhumane.” Ryan Fayhee, a lawyer acting on behalf of Corbett's relatives, said the family was grateful to Biden for the call but also implored him to act on the deal. “A deal is now on the table and the decision to accept it — as imperfect as it may be — resides exclusively with the President,” Fayhee said in a statement. “Hard decisions make great Presidents, and we hope and believe that President Biden will not let perfection be the enemy of the good when American lives are at stake.” The White House confirmed the call with the families in a statement in which it said they “discussed the U.S. Government’s continuing efforts to reunite these three Americans with their families. The President emphasized his Administration’s commitment to the cause of bringing home Americans held hostage and wrongfully detained overseas.” A spokesperson did not directly address the complaint from the families. If a deal is not done before Jan. 20, it would fall to the incoming Trump administration to pick up negotiations, though it's unclear if officials would take a different approach when it comes to releasing a Guantanamo detainee the U.S. government has deemed a danger. Just 15 men remain at Guantanamo, down from a peak of nearly 800 under former President George W. Bush. Rahim is one of just three remaining detainees never charged but also never deemed safe for the U.S. to even consider transferring to other countries, as it has done with hundreds of other Muslim detainees brought to Guantanamo but never charged. The U.S. has described Rahim as a direct adviser, courier and operative for Osama bin Laden and other senior al-Qaida figures and a continuing threat to U.S. national security, despite never charging him or otherwise formally making public any evidence against Rahim in his 17 years at Guantanamo. Successive U.S. administrations have kept Rahim under wraps to a degree remarkable even for the military-run detention at Guantanamo. A case-review panel in periodic security assessments has judged him a lasting danger. One typical review in 2019 cited what it said were his “extensive extremist connections that provide a path to re-engagement” if he were ever released. It claimed he had failed to answer questions from the review panel about his past or speak to any change to a more peaceful outlook. His attorney, James Connell, told a U.N. human rights commission recently that Rahim was being “systematically silenced” by the U.S. Connell claimed to the same panel that a U.S. official had told him “every word Rahim utters on any topic is classified on the basis of national security.” The Biden administration in September 2022 swapped a convicted Taliban drug lord imprisoned in the U.S. for an American civilian contractor who'd been detained by the Taliban for more than two years.  

A magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck a region in southwestern Mexico early Sunday, according to the United States Geological Survey, causing no serious damage or casualties. It said the quake was centered 21 kilometers (13 miles) southeast of Aquila near the boundary of Colima and Michoacán states at a depth of 34 kilometers (21 miles). Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on social media platform X that the quake prompted emergency response teams to review their protocol. “There are no new developments,” she wrote. Mexico’s Social Security Institute said there were no reports of damage in the capital of Mexico City, some 600 kilometers (372 miles) east of the temblor's epicenter — near the mountainous village of Coalcomán, Michoacán. Some people in Coalcomán and in Uruapan, the second largest city in Michoacán, posted surveillance footage on social media time-stamped at 2:32 a.m. local time that showed buildings sway and parked cars shake. Others reported that they ran into the streets to wait for the shaking to stop. Mexico’s national seismological service said that as of 9 a.m. local time on Sunday, there had been 329 aftershocks. It put the magnitude at 6.1. It is not unusual for preliminary measurements to vary. Mexico is no stranger to earthquakes because of its position near colliding sections of the earth’s crust. In the past 40 years, there have been at least seven magnitude 7 or greater temblors, killing around 10,000 people — most of them in a devastating 1985 8.0 quake.