Indian Olympic star Neeraj Chopra marries tennis player Himani Mor

India’s star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra has revealed that he is now married in a brief announcement on social media.

The two-time Olympic medalist, one of the country’s most famous sports stars, posted a series of pictures from the intimate ceremony following his marriage to tennis player Himani Mor.

The pictures were accompanied by a simple caption: “Started a new chapter of life with my family. Grateful for every blessing that brought us to this moment together. Bound by love, happily ever after.”

Chopra’s uncle Bhim Chopra told Indian media that details of the wedding were kept private, something that the newlyweds had asked for.

“The wedding took place on 16 January in Himachal Pradesh. Both the families were present during the wedding, which was arranged by the two families,” he told The Indian Express.

“It’s a new journey for Neeraj and Himani. We cannot share details of the ceremony since Neeraj and Himani’s families want it to be that way. Neeraj and Himani are currently out of the country. The whole Chopra family is delighted.”

According to Indian media reports, Mor is a former tennis player from Sonipat, located in the northern Indian state of Haryana.

As soon as Chopra posted the news of his wedding congratulations started pouring in from fans, as well as peers from the sporting community.

Former cricketer Suresh Raina congratulated Chopra with a post on X, formerly Twitter, writing: “Many congratulations Neeraj Chopra. May your journey together be filled with beautiful memories and unwavering companionship.”

“Congratulations, Neeraj and Himani! Wishing you both a lifetime filled with love, laughter, and endless happiness,” Indian badminton player PV Sindhu commented on Chopra’s post.

Actor Rajkummar Rao wrote: “Aap donon ko Bahut bahut Badhaai ho mere bhai. Hamesha khush raho (Many congratulations to you both, my brother. Always stay happy).”

Born to an agricultural family in rural Haryana, Chopra won the gold medal at the 2020 Olympics, becoming the first Asian javelin throw athlete to do so.

“My goal was always the Tokyo Olympics,” Chopra said at the time. “I put in the hard work and trusted the process since every single effort counts when it comes to success at the highest level.

“They say a lion always takes a step back before attacking. I think of a setback in an athlete’s life like that, so I ensured that I gave my 100 per cent during the rehab phase so that I could be at my best possible shape on return.”

Chopra won silver at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where he threw 88.13m in the finals.

Indonesia’s Mount Ibu erupted at least 1,000 times in January

A volcano in Indonesia has erupted at least a thousand times this month, officials said, as the latest eruption prompted fresh evacuation warnings.

Mount Ibu, a remote volcano on Indonesia’s Halmahera Island, has erupted 1,079 times since 1 January, according to the country’s Geological Agency.

In its most recent eruption on Sunday, the volcano sent a 1.5km-high column of ash into the sky, with some of its eruptions going up to 4km-high, prompting officials to call for the evacuation of 3,000 residents from six nearby villages.

Despite the danger, only 517 residents have been evacuated so far, with many refusing to leave their homes due to ongoing crop harvests and familiarity with the volcano’s frequent activity.

“There might be economic considerations, as many residents are in the middle of harvesting crops. However, we will continue to educate the community and encourage them to evacuate,” Adietya Yuni Nurtono told AFP news agency, the military commander overseeing a safe shelter.

Authorities advised residents and tourists to avoid a five- to six-kilometre exclusion zone around the volcano’s peak and wear face masks to protect against falling ash.

The Geological Agency recorded 17 eruptions on Sunday alone, with ash plumes ranging from 300m to 4km above the volcano’s peak. Observers at the Mount Ibu Observation Post reported loud rumbling sounds accompanying the eruptions and thick grey ash drifting southwest.

Mount Ibu, which has been erupting sporadically since 1998, is categorised as a stratovolcano, known for its explosive activity and frequent ash emissions. Its current activity has significantly intensified, with eruptions now occurring daily.

Indonesia, located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, is home to more than 120 active volcanoes, making it one of the most seismically active regions in the world.

In recent years, the country has experienced several deadly eruptions. In November 2024, Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki on the island of Flores erupted more than a dozen times, killing nine people in its initial explosion. Similarly, Mount Ruang in North Sulawesi province erupted multiple times last year, forcing thousands of residents to evacuate nearby islands.

Tattoo-covered Iranian pop star sentenced to death for ‘blasphemy’

An Iranian court reportedly sentenced controversial pop star Amir Hossein Maghsoudloo, also known as Tataloo, to death after he was found guilty of insulting Prophet Muhammad.

“The Supreme Court accepted the prosecutor’s objection” to a prior five-year prison sentence for blasphemy, AFP reported, citing the Iranian newspaper Etemad.

It said “the case was reopened, and this time the defendant was sentenced to death for insulting the prophet”, the newspaper said.

The Iran Front Page also reported that Tehran’s First Criminal Court sentenced Tataloo, 37, to death for insulting the prophet after a retrial, overturning a prior five-year prison sentence.

The verdict, which followed an appeal and Supreme Court intervention, was not final and could still be challenged by the Supreme Court, according to media reports.

However, Iran International said on Sunday that the country’s judiciary denied reports claiming that Tataloo had been sentenced to death for blasphemy. It said that the initial report, published by the Jame Jam newspaper, was refuted by the judiciary’s media office, which stated that a final verdict has not yet been issued.

The Independent could not verify these claims. Tataloo, an underground musician, was extradited from Istanbul to Iran in December 2023 and has been in detention since.

Known for blending rap, pop, and R&B, he previously faced a 10-year sentence for promoting “prostitution” and was charged with anti-regime propaganda and publishing “obscene content”.

Despite his controversial image, Tataloo once engaged with conservative Iranian politicians, including a televised meeting with late president Ebrahim Raisi in 2017.

In 2015, he released a song supporting Iran’s nuclear programme, which faced setbacks after the US withdrew from the deal in 2018.

The news of the sentence came as two judges, Ali Razini and Mohammad Moghisseh, known for handling cases on national security and terrorism, were killed in a shooting at Iran’s Supreme Court in Tehran on Saturday, according to the judiciary’s Mizan Online website.

The judiciary reported that the gunman, described as a “terrorist”, entered their room, carried out the attack, and then killed himself. One other person was reportedly injured in the incident.

In 2024, at least 901 people were executed in Iran, marking the highest number in nine years, a six per cent increase from the previous year. This includes about 40 executions in a single week in December, according to UN human rights chief Volker Turk.

“It is deeply disturbing that yet again we see an increase in the number of people subjected to the death penalty in Iran year-on-year. It is high time Iran stemmed this ever-swelling tide of executions,” Mr Turk said.

Origin of Australia’s 1,400-year-old mystery rings finally revealed

Mysterious ancient earth rings located on the outskirts of Melbourne were made by Australia’s Aboriginal Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people hundreds of years ago, a new study finally reveals.

The origin and purpose of these large rings rising out of hills in Australia’s Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Country in the suburb of Sunbury have remained a mystery.

Strange rings have been spotted in many parts of the world, including in England and Cambodia.

They are thought to have been created by ancient people living in these regions by digging out and clumping together earth forming a large circle, or circles, sometimes measuring hundreds of meters in diameter.

Hundreds of such earth rings are believed to have once existed across Australia, many of which were destroyed following European colonisation.

The nearly hundred that remain across the continent now hold immense significance to different Aboriginal language groups reflecting on a history of occupation, colonisation, self-determination, adaptation, and resilience, researchers and elders of the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung culture say.

For the Indigenous people, the concept of a country includes consideration of several elements including “land, water, sky, animals, plants, artefacts and cultural features, travel routes, traditions, ceremonies, beliefs, stories, historical events, contemporary associations and ancestors”.

Researchers say it is not possible to understand the earth rings completely without tying together different strands of the culture’s knowledge about the landscape, and their ancestral activity traces preserved in the region.

“While previous studies indicate these rings are sacred locations of ceremony, little is documented from cultural values and landscape perspectives – particularly in southeastern Australia,” scientists say.

A new first-of-its-kind excavation of one such ring has revealed that it was constructed “sometime between 590 and 1,400 years ago”.

Researchers found that the Aboriginal people carefully cleared land and plants in the area, and scraped back soil and rock to create the ring mound, proceeding then to create stone arrangements by layering rocks.

The findings, published recently in the journal Australian Archaeology, suggest the Indigenous people of the region lit campfires, as well as made and used stone tools to move items around the ring’s interior.

Such tools were also likely used on plants and animals as well as to create feather adornments and scar human skin during ceremonies, researchers say.

Results of this study shed further light on the cultural history of Australia’s Aboriginal people and their connection with their land.

“The results bring together Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people’s understandings of the biik wurrda cultural landscape and archaeological evidence for cultural fire, knapping, movement, trampling, and tool-use by their Ancestors at the ring,” scientists wrote.

“While memory of the purpose of the Sunbury Rings has faded, a deep understanding of the cultural values of the landscape in which they are embedded has been passed down through successive generations of Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people,” they said.

Bubble tea chain manager slammed for ‘call boss before family’ rule

A popular Korean bubble tea brand sparked backlash after one of their franchise managers told employees to inform their boss before their families in case they were in a plane crash.

The directive was given to employees who worked at the bubble tea store on 29 December, the same day South Korea saw the worst domestic aviation disaster in the country’s history.

A Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 crash landed after failing to deploy its landing gear, then skidded off the runway at Muan airport and rammed into a concrete embankment.

The plane burst into flames, killing all but two of its 181 passengers and crew. The survivors, crew members seated at the rear, suffered injuries but were rescued.

A manager from one of Gong Cha Korea’s franchises at the Shinsegae Department Store in Daegu allegedly told its part-time workers that they must inform him before contacting family in the event they found themselves in a plane crash.

“Did you see the plane explosion today? There are some people going overseas during the holiday. If a crash happens, send me a message saying ‘hire an intern’ first before contacting mum and dad. Do not be absent,” the manager allegedly said, according to a message posted on social media by someone who claimed to be an intern at the Gong Cha franchise location.

The intern added: “Please do not support Gong Cha by spending your money there. Is this really something you should say to a part-time worker? As an adult, don’t you feel ashamed? This is so heartless.”

People were quick to respond in anger, with one comment reading: “Is this person even human? Making such remarks right after a national tragedy?” according to the South China Morning Post.

Another commented: “The manager’s brain must be broken. They have clearly given up on being a decent human being.”

The intern, in their message, said that the manager’s message was not entirely unexpected, as they routinely insulted employees and justified it as them “testing the staff”.

In response, Gong Cha Korea apologised with a statement the next day, saying they were “seriously addressing this issue”.

“We would like to express my deepest condolences to those who lost their precious lives and their bereaved families in the unfortunate accident that occurred at Muan International Airport. We would also like to express my sincere condolences to all those who were hurt by this accident,” the statement began, according to an online translation.

“We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience or hurt caused by the inappropriate remarks made at the Shinsegae Daegu franchise store. An investigation determined that the incident resulted from inappropriate personal conduct by the store manager.

“Currently, Gong Cha Korea is seriously addressing this issue and taking appropriate measures against the relevant employees. In addition, we will strengthen our internal management system and prepare improvement measures to prevent this from happening again.

“We would like to once again sincerely apologise to our customers who have always trusted and supported Gong Cha Korea and to our part-time workers who were hurt by this incident.”

A handwritten letter, puportedly from the owner of the store, was also posted on Gong Cha’s social media, where they too apologised, and stated they would improve staff training to prevent an incident like this occurring again.

“I am the owner of a Gong Cha store inside Shinsegae Daegu Department Store. I sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused to many people by our employee’s inappropriate behavior this time,” the letter stated, according to an online translation.

“All of this is the result of my negligence as the store owner, and I deeply regret it. I will do my best to prevent a recurrence by thoroughly improving store operations and employee training.

“We sincerely apologise to everyone who was hurt by this incident, and we will do our best to regain the trust of our customers.

“I bow my head once again and apologise.”

Hundreds of dead sea turtles wash ashore on India’s coast

More than 400 endangered sea turtles have washed ashore on India‘s east coast in an event not witnessed in over two decades.

Olive Ridley turtles travel thousands of miles for ideal nesting conditions on India’s coast, near the city of Chennai, but the species has been threatened for years by fishing nets as well as a reduction in the number of available nesting beaches.

Between 100 to 200 turtles usually die in a typical year on the stretch of coast — there have been well over that number in little more than two weeks, said Shravan Krishnan, a volunteer with Chennai-based Students Sea Turtles Conservation Network.

Theres is also concern about the low number of turtles nesting on shore.

Krishnan and other conservationists walk along the city’s beaches at night to collect and transfer turtle nests so the eggs are not vandalised by beach-goers or eaten by dogs. “We have found only four nests so far, which isreally worrying,” he said.

The turtle deaths are the highest number officials have seen since 2014 when more than 900 Olive Ridley turtles were found dead along the southern Indian coast. Experts say the deaths are most likely due to large fishing nets that trawl the ocean floor.

Manish Meena, the city’s wildlife warden, said groups have been actively trying to create awareness among fishers to release turtles that might get caught in nets and have also asked the coastguard to monitor fishing activity.

A local government order was implemented in 2016 to stop trawl boats from casting giant nets that sweep up everything on the ocean floor from getting within five nautical miles of the coastline during turtle nesting season. The law also mandates devices known as turtle excluder devices, that can help turtles escape nets.

Shantanu Kalambi, a marine veterinary specialist with the conservation organization ReefWatch, said that when the trawlers catch turtles, they are unable to surface for air at regular intervals. And the devices that help turtles escape aren’t used, because they reduce fishers’ catch, environmentalists said.

Olive ridley turtles are considered a vulnerable species as they lose their habitats, are subject to marine pollution and can get trapped in fishing nets.

As their eggs need two months to hatch — like most sea turtle species — they’re also threatened by increased land activity on beaches and coastlines, warmer temperatures and light pollution that can disorient infant turtles.

More than 500,000 turtles nest every year in beaches further up India’s east coast in Odisha state — a mass nesting phenomenon that turtle conservationists call Arribada. Only one in about 1,000 turtle hatchlings survive to adulthood.

The turtles are important in maintaining the healthy balance of the marine ecosystem. One of their main food sources is jellyfish, and an abundance of jellyfish could have adverse consequences for marine ecosystems.

Chris Martin thanks Indian fans for forgiving British colonialism

Coldplay’s Chris Martin thanked his Indian audience on Saturday for “forgiving” the British, as the band’s tour kicked off in Mumbai.

The band, in India for the Asia leg of their highly anticipated Music of Spheres world tour, performed at Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium, attended by around 75,000 people. This was Coldplay’s first performance in India after the 2016 show at the Global Citizen Festival in Mumbai.

Band frontman Martin, 47, expressed his gratitude for the warm welcome of fans, despite the British colonial rule in India in the past.

“This is our fourth visit to India, and the second time to play. First time we played a long show and we could not have asked for a better audience. Thank you for coming today everybody!” he said.

“Thank you for welcoming us even though we are from Great Britain,” he said. “Thanks for forgiving us for everything Great Britain did.”

Fans responded with both gratitude and a series of jokes, with one responding on an Instagram video of Martin’s speech, writing: “Pls free concert next time as reparations.”

A few other fans saw the perfect opportunity to ask for the return of the Kohinoor diamond, now part of the British Crown Jewels.

“CEO of fixing what he didn’t break”, a fan wrote, while another said: “Chris healing intergenerational trauma with a mic, stage and some tunes.”

Coldplay will perform in Mumbai on 21 and 22 January and head to Ahmedabad for concerts scheduled for 25 and 26 January, which are also going to be streamed live on Disney+ Hotstar.

The band was originally set to perform two shows in Mumbai but added another after the enormous demand.

The tour has been controversial in India, as fans had to grapple with a massive demand for tickets, issues with the ticketing site, as well as severe price gouging.

The ticketing website BookMyShow crashed seconds before the sale was set to go live in September, unable to handle the traffic from over 700,000 users. Fans complained about having to wait in long digital queues, which reportedly went up to 11 million.

Shortly after the sale ended, tickets went live on other websites at several times the price. Scammers too sprung up all over social media, offering tickets as part of a lucky draw for people who would share their post.

Coldplay will also be performing in Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong, and Seoul, in addition to their India shows. They will be returning to Hong Kong for the first time since 2009 and last performed in Abu Dhabi in 2016 and Seoul in 2017.

Last year, Martin revealed that Coldplay would retire after they reached a certain milestone.

“We are only going to do 12 proper albums and that’s real,” the frontman told Zane Lowe in an Apple Music interview.

Martin said having this limit would ensure the same quality control as Coldplay’s previous albums, which include 2000’s Parachutes, 2008’s Viva la Vida, or Death and All His Friends, 2015’s A Head Full of Dreams, and 2021’s Music of the Spheres.

“Where we could be kind of coasting, we’re trying to improve,” he explained.

China executes two men after deadly rampages that killed dozens

China has executed two men who killed dozens of people in attacks seen as revenge for issues in their personal lives.

Fan Weiqu, 62, who rammed his car into a crowd outside a sports stadium in the southern city of Zhuhai in November, killling 35, was executed on Monday. The attack was the deadliest in more than 10 years.

Police said Fan was driven by “dissatisfaction” over how his property had been divided following his divorce.

He was detained at the scene and found with self-inflicted wounds, police said.

Also in November, 21-year-old Xu Jiajin killed eight people and injured 17 others in a stabbing attack at his vocational school in the eastern city of Wuxi.

Police said Wu had failed his examinations and could not graduate, and was dissatisfied about his pay at an internship. He was also executed on Monday, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

Both attacks have raised concerns about a surge in so-called revenge on society crimes. The number of such attacks across China reached 19 in 2024.

Within days of the Zhuhai and Wuxi attacks, a man drove into a crowd of children and parents outside a primary school, injuring 30.

The man, Huang Wen, was said to have wanted to vent his anger after dealing with investment losses and family conflict.

The killings spurred Chinese President Xi Jinping to urge local governments to take measures to prevent such attacks.

Analysts told the BBC that the string of killings also raised questions about how people in China were dealing with various sources of stress, including the country’s sluggish economy and cost of living.

“The tensions do seem to be building, and it doesn’t look like there is any way it is going to ease up in the near future,” George Magnus, an economist at Oxford University’s China Centre, told the BBC.

The two men’s death sentences were issued by the intermediate people’s courts in the cities of Zhuhai and Wuxi, respectively, in December and approved by the Supreme People’s Court, according to state media.

China is believed to execute more prisoners each year than the rest of the world combined, though the precise total is classified a state secret.

Executions are traditionally carried out by gunshot, though lethal injections have also been introduced in recent years.