News Dabba for 07 January 2025: Five stories for a balanced news diet

Indie Journal brings you the daily updates that the internet is talking about through various news websites. Here's a glance through some of the National and International news updates, from Delhi election announcement, Tibet earthquake, to the US pausing select restrictions on Syria.

Indian Express on Delhi election announcement

Indian Express reports that voting for Delhi assembly elections will take place in a single phase on February 5, and results will be declared on February 8.  The term of the Delhi Assembly, consisting of 70 MLAs, is set to end on February 23. CEC Rajiv Kumar said that the manipulation of voter turnout during elections is “an impossibility”, the report adds. Read the full report here.

Scores dead as tremor strikes holy Tibetan city, BBC reports

At least 95 people have been confirmed dead and 130 are injured after a major earthquake struck the mountainous Tibet region on Tuesday morning, BBC reports as per the Chinese state media. The earthquake that hit Tibet's holy Shigatse city around 09:00 local time had a magnitude of 7.1 and a depth of 10 kilometres, according to data from the US Geological Survey, which also showed a series of aftershocks in the area. The report said that tremors were also felt in neighbouring Nepal and parts of India. Earthquakes are common in the region, which lies on a major geological fault line, the report mentions. Read the full report here.

Three miners feared dead in India's Assam state: Hindustan Times

Three miners were feared dead inside a flooded coal mine in a remote district of India's north-eastern Assam state, Hindustan Times reports, and the men were part of a total of nine still trapped as rescue teams worked to reach them. The mine, in an area controlled by the state government, appeared to be illegal, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on social media platform X. Rescuers have spotted three bodies but have not yet recovered them, the report says. Read the full report here.

US pauses select restrictions on Syria, Al Jazeera

The United States has announced it is easing select restrictions on Syria’s transitional government. Al Jazeera reports that the US Treasury late on Monday issued a general licence, lasting six months, that authorises certain transactions with the Syrian government, including some energy sales and incidental transactions. The move is designed to allow the entry of humanitarian aid following the ouster of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad last month, the US said. The report adds that it suggests some progress in the efforts of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the main group that overthrew al-Assad now leading Syria’s transition, to strengthen international relations. Read the full report here.

Prashant Kishor shifted to ICU as health worsens after hunger strike

NDTV reports that Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor, who was on Monday arrested for an "illegal" fast unto death and then released on "unconditional" bail, was taken to a hospital in Patna after his health deteriorated last night. The report adds that he was later shifted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Kishor was arrested from Patna's Gandhi Maidan early Monday morning, in pursuance of a case against him last week for holding 'Aamaran anshan' (fast unto death) at Gandhi Maidan, in violation of a Patna High Court order that forbids any such demonstration at a place other than Gardani Bagh locality in the city. Read the full report here.