North Korea on Saturday lambasted a recent trilateral meeting between South Korea, the US and Japan that discussed peace in the Indo-Pacific region, deriding the talks as an "insult" to peace.

North Korea's main newspaper, criticised the trilateral Indo-Pacific Dialogue that took place in Tokyo on December 11, accusing Washington of being a "gangster-like" country destroying peace and its Asian allies of being accomplices.

"The United States' history itself is one of war all around the world and its foreign policy is consistent with the evil of invading other countries and bringing destruction to peace and safety," news agency reported, quoting the Roddong Sinmun.

The paper rejected Japan as a country seeking peace, citing its guidelines for defence cooperation with the US and its security law that allows collective self-defence. It also labelled South Korea as being the "vanguard of US policies of invasion and war."

Ahead of the Delhi Assembly elections, Aam Aadmi Party's national convenor and former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday announced the 'Dr Ambedkar Scholarship' scheme which aims to empower children from the Dalit community to pursue higher education at universities worldwide without financial constraints.

Addressing a large public gathering here, Kejriwal said: "Today, in honour of Babasaheb Ambedkar, I am making a historic announcement. No child from the Dalit community should be deprived of quality education due to financial constraints. Under the Dr Ambedkar Scholarship, the Delhi government will cover all expenses, including tuition and travel, for Dalit students admitted to universities abroad."

Under the scheme, meritorious students who want to pursue higher education in the fields of art, agriculture, law, medicine, engineering, etc, can apply for funds.

All-rounder Annabel Sutherland hit a brilliant century as Australia moved closer to winning a third consecutive ICC Women’s Championship title through a 65-run victory via DLS method over New Zealand in the second ODI at Basin Reserve on Saturday.

After hitting a stunning century in the final ODI against India at Perth, Annabel made it back-to-back centuries by being unbeaten on 105 off just 81 deliveries, laced with 11 fours and two sixes at a strike-rate of 129.63.

The importance of her knock is further noted with none of the Australian batters touching 35. Pacer Molly Penfold picked her career-best ODI figures of 4/42, but it wasn’t enough as Australia posted 291/7.

Former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister, Manish Sisodia has strongly refuted reports claiming that Lieutenant Governor (LG) VK Saxena has sanctioned the prosecution of AAP National Convener and former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in connection with the alleged liquor policy scam.

In a post on X on Saturday, Sisodia wrote, “If LG Saxena has given permission to prosecute Arvind Kejriwal, then why is the ED not showing the copy of that permission? It is clear that this news is false and misleading. Stop making empty claims to divert attention from the issue of insult to Babasaheb Ambedkar. Show where the sanction to prosecute is.”

Earlier, sources reported that LG Saxena had approved the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) request to prosecute Kejriwal under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with the liquor policy case.

Punjabi superstar Diljit Dosanjh, who has been riding on the wave of success, has reacted to the government's advisory against calling children on stage.

On Saturday, the singer-actor took to his Instagram, and shared a series of videos on which he could be seen interacting with the show attendees in the audience arena. The videos show him receiving the love of his fans as they gifted him a shawl among other things.

He said in one of the videos, “I was given the advisory saying I cannot bring children on stage. No worries, I have found the solution to it. I have installed the ladder to get down from the stage, I’ll come to you guys”.

South Korean Police said they have questioned acting President Han Duck-soo over his role in President Yoon Suk Yeol's botched imposition of martial law early this month.

Han was one of nine people the police said they questioned over their attendance at a Cabinet meeting Yoon held shortly before he declared martial law on December 3, news agency reported.

This marks the first time Han has been known to have undergone questioning as a suspect in the probe.

"Of the 12 people who attended the Cabinet meeting, we questioned nine people, excluding President Yoon Suk Yeol, former Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun and Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho," a police official said.

Riding on resilient economic growth, the domestic stock markets are ending 2024 on a positive note, with Nifty registering a 13 per cent gain (year-to-date) -- its ninth consecutive year of positive gains, a Motilal Oswal Wealth Management report said on Saturday.

The first half of the year saw robust corporate earnings, a surge in domestic flows, and a resilient macro landscape, driving the Nifty to an all-time high of 26,277 in September.

In fact, the markets navigated significant events, such several global geo-political issues, General Elections and Budget in India, and any dips were swiftly met with strong buying activity, the report mentioned.

“The year 2025 could unfold as a tale of two halves. The first half may continue to see market consolidation, while a recovery could take place in the second half,” it added.

In the last two months, the market has corrected 11 per cent from its all-time high, amid selling by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) due to a combination of domestic and global factors.

Health authorities in Australia's second-most populous state have issued a warning over the spread of a flesh-eating ulcer.

The Department of Health in Victoria on Friday said that cases of Buruli ulcer are spreading across the state, including in inner Melbourne, news agency reported.

Buruli ulcer is a bacterial infection that researchers believe is spread from possums to humans by mosquitoes. Cases initially present as a painless lump or wound that can slowly develop into a destructive ulcer.

If left untreated, the flesh-eating ulcer can lead to permanent disfigurement and long-term disability.

The Department of Health's warning said that the highest risk of infection occurs during warmer months but that it can take four to five months for an ulcer to develop.

In a tragic incident, four members of a family, including two children, were burned alive in a massive fire that broke out at their home in Dewas, Madhya Pradesh, early Saturday morning, the police said.

The incident occurred in Nayapura town of Dewas district, approximately 45 km from Indore.

The fire reportedly started on the ground floor of a two-story building, where a dairy shop was being operated.

Dewas Superintendent of Police (SP) Puneet Gahlot said that preliminary investigations indicate the fire was caused by a short circuit on the ground floor. The flames quickly engulfed the entire building, leaving the family trapped on the upper floor.

“Upon receiving information, fire-fighting teams from Dewas Municipal Corporation and local police rushed to the spot. Unfortunately, the fire spread rapidly, and the family had no time to escape,” Gahlot told reporters.

One man died and two more were injured after a shooting in Melbourne, the capital city of Australia's state of Victoria.

Police officers were called to a property in Campbellfield, 15 km north of central Melbourne, at 10:10 p.m. local time on Friday night following reports a man had been shot.

Upon arrival at the scene, officers found a 60-year-old man suffering from significant and life-threatening injuries.

He was rushed to a nearby hospital where he died, news agency reported.

Victoria Police said in a statement on Saturday morning that two men, aged 22 and 20, are under police guard in hospital.

Pathankot Punjab Police arrested two persons based on reliable information and recovered two pistols, four magazines and 14 live cartridges from them.

Punjab Police Director General Gaurav Yadav said on Saturday that an FIR has been registered in this regard, and further investigations are on to ascertain the origin of the weapons and identify other suspects involved in the network.

He said that Punjab Police is steadfast in its mission to curb illegal activities and ensure a safe Punjab.

Some people with artificial hearts can regenerate heart muscle, according to a study, an advance that may open the door to new ways to treat and someday may also cure heart failure.

There is currently no cure for heart failure. The treatment for advanced heart failure includes a transplant, and a pump replacement via an artificial heart. Known as the left ventricular assist device, this can help the heart pump blood.

Researchers from the University of Arizona’s College of Medicine in the US said that “skeletal muscle has a significant ability to regenerate after injury”.

The team began the study with tissue from artificial heart patients. They included researchers from Sweden and Germany and used their own innovative method of carbon dating human heart tissue to track whether these samples contained newly generated cells.

Seven persons were killed in two separate road accidents in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana on Saturday.

Four persons were killed and 10 others injured when a mini-van, in which they were travelling, rammed into a stationary truck on the national highway near Bullasamudram in Andhra Pradesh's Sri Sathya Sai district.

Four persons died on the spot while four others were critically injured. Police and emergency health service personnel rushed to the spot and shifted the injured to a hospital at Madakasira.

Seven of the injured were shifted to Bangalore for treatment.

The deceased were residents of Gudibanda in Amrapuram mandal. They were returning home after darshan at Sri Venkateshwara Temple at Tirumala.

On the first day of the 40-day period of extreme winter cold called the 'Chillai Kalan' on Saturday, Srinagar city froze at minus 8.5 degrees Celsius, recording the lowest temperature since 2000.

MET department officials said, "Today's minimum temperature of minus 8.5 degrees Celsius, recorded in Srinagar is the lowest since 2000. It was minus 7.7 degrees Celsius in 2018. The previous record is minus 12.8 degrees Celsius in 1934."

Everything from window panes, water taps, lakes, streams and river surfaces froze as the Valley reeled under bone-chilling cold conditions.

Despite small fires lit around, water in frozen taps could not be defrozen. People helplessly waited for the temperature to pick up before venturing out again for water.

A mild earthquake measuring 4.8 on the Richter scale struck Nepal in the early hours of Saturday, as confirmed by the National Centre for Seismology (NCS).

The tremor, which occurred at 3:59 AM Indian Standard Time (IST), was registered at a depth of 10 kilometres beneath the Earth’s surface.

According to NCS, the earthquake’s epicentre was pinpointed at Latitude 29.17° N and Longitude 81.59° E, a region known for its susceptibility to seismic activity. So far, there have been no reports of casualties or significant structural damage. Local authorities, however, remain on alert and are closely monitoring the situation.

The National Centre for Seismology shared details of the quake on social media platform X, stating, “Earthquake of Magnitude: 4.8, Date: 21/12/2024, Time: 03:59:03 IST, Lat: 29.17° N, Long: 81.59° E, Depth: 10 Km, Location: Nepal.”

There has been a massive 233 per cent growth (year-on-year) in overall net inflows in systematic investment plans (SIPs) in India this year, according to a new report, as the Indian economy remains resilient amid rough geo-political conditions.

Overall net inflows stood at Rs 9.14 lakh crore from January to November this year, as against Rs. 2.74 lakh crore in 2023 which tantamount to a growth of 233 per cent, according to the report by ICRA Analytics.

Number of new SIPs registered increased to 49.47 lakh at the end of November, as against 30.80 lakh in November 2023.

Moreover, SIP asset under management (AUM) stood at Rs 13.54 lakh crore in November, as against Rs. 9.31 lakh crore in 2023, said the report.

A fire broke out in a multi-storied building in Information Technology hub Madhapur in Hyderabad on Saturday.

The fire started around 6 A.M. in a bar-and-restaurant on the fifth floor of a Sattva Elixir building in Salarpuria Sattva Knowledge City under Raidurgam Police Station of Cyberabad Commissionerate.

No casualties or injuries were reported in the city.

The fire was suspected to have been triggered by a cylinder blast and the flames spread to the fourth floor.

The cylinder explosion was so forceful that it partially damaged an adjoining building.

The explosion and fire sent panic among employees of a software company operating from the adjoining building.

Indian benchmark indices declined 5 per cent this week amid global selloff, mainly triggered by the US Federal Reserve's caution approach for rate cuts next year, which resulted in relentless selling by the foreign institutional investors (FIIs).

With this, Sensex lost over 1,000 points in three out of five trading sessions this week, and nearly Rs 17 lakh crore worth of market cap was eroded out of BSE-listed firms.

According to market experts, it had been a dreadful week for the equity markets, as the key indices fell dramatically, erasing the gains of the last four weeks.

“The benchmark index experienced a significant decline, plummeting approximately 1,200 points from the previous week's closing figure. As a result, it finished the week below 200 simple moving average (SMA), marking a total loss of nearly 5 per cent,” said Osho Krishnan from Angel One.

Two separate police encounters in Uttar Pradesh’s Jaunpur and Mathura resulted in the arrest of cow smugglers, including one wanted criminal with a reward on his head.

In Jaunpur, the Machhli Shahr and Sujanganj police conducted a joint operation late on Friday night to apprehend the cow smugglers.

In the wee hours of Saturday, an encounter occurred in which one smuggler was shot in the leg and captured while his accomplice managed to flee.

CO Vivek Kumar stated that the police had been conducting checks when two individuals on a bike tried to evade them.

The toll in the horrific accident and fire in Jaipur rose to 14 by Saturday as more people succumbed to their burn injuries.

The tragic accident on Friday morning at the Ajmer Highway in Jaipur claimed the lives of eight people immediately and left over 35 injured, when an LPG gas tanker collided with a truck. The death toll continued to rise through the day after that.

The collision triggered a massive explosion and fire, engulfing the area in flames, leaving over 35 people injured.

The toll is expected to go up further due to the horrific nature of the burns.

The accident took place when the LPG tanker, traveling from Ajmer toward Jaipur, was making a U-turn back toward Ajmer and collided with a truck coming from Jaipur.

Lebanon is facing "staggering unmet health needs" as thousands of civilians cry out for reconstructive surgeries and physical rehabilitation after the Hezbollah-Israel ceasefire, the World Health Organization Lebanon Office said.

Over 4,000 people have been killed and 17,000 others injured in Lebanon since last October, and the death toll has been climbing continuously "as more bodies are found in the 16,000 buildings that have been partially or completely destroyed, leaving an estimated 8 million tonnes of debris," the office said in a news release.

"One in four people with life-changing injuries will need long-term rehabilitation," it noted.

Most hospitals in Lebanon are running below capacity due to financial restraints and shortages of health workers, long-standing challenges in Lebanon, it said.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced changes to his cabinet.

According to a list issue by the prime minister's office, eight new ministers were added and four ministers' roles were changed.

With the changes, the cabinet retains a total of 38 ministers, in addition to the Prime Minister and there is an equal number of women and men which is in keeping with the precedent set in 2015, news agency reported.

The shuffle came days after former deputy prime minister and finance minister Chrystia Freeland resigned. Since July, a total of 9 ministers had announced their resignation or withdrawal from the next federal election.

The new cabinet will deliver on what matters most to Canadians which includes making life more affordable and growing the economy, said Trudeau in a news release.

 A Saudi man was arrested after a car rammed into a Christmas market in Magdeburg, central Germany, leaving two people dead, including a child, and over 60 others injured, according to Saxony-Anhalt's state premier.

The incident occurred on Friday evening when the market was bustling with crowds gathered for Christmas shopping.

Condemning the attack, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz took to X and posted, "My thoughts are with the victims and their families. We stand by their side and by the side of the people of Magdeburg."

Speaking to the reporters, Saxony-Anhalt state premier Reiner Haseloff revealed that the suspected driver is a Saudi Arabian doctor, who has been residing in Germany since 2006 and working in the region.

The toll in the horrific accident and fire in Jaipur rose to 13 by Saturday as more people succumbed to their burn injuries.

The tragic accident on Friday morning at the Ajmer Highway in Jaipur claimed the lives of eight people and left over 35 injured, when an LPG gas tanker collided with a truck.

The collision triggered a massive explosion and fire, engulfing the area in flames, leaving over 35 people injured.

The accident took place when the LPG tanker, traveling from Ajmer toward Jaipur, was making a U-turn back toward Ajmer and collided with a truck coming from Jaipur.

The impact caused the gas to leak, spreading over a 200-metre radius before igniting into a massive fireball.

The explosion led to catastrophic destruction, with more than 40 vehicles catching fire after that.

Many victims were unable to escape, including the workers at a pipe factory nearby.

At least 18 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes on the central and northern Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian sources.

Local sources and eyewitnesses reported that Israeli warplanes targeted an apartment in the multi-story "Yaffa" tower in the al-Nuseirat camp, located in central Gaza.

A statement from Al-Awda Hospital in the camp confirmed that eight people were killed and 14 others injured, some seriously, in the attack.

In northern Gaza, Israeli shelling struck a house belonging to the "Khilla" family in Jabalia Al-Balad, killing 10 people and injuring several others, according to the Gaza Strip's Civil Defence.

The Israeli army has not commented on these incidents, news agency reported.