24 hours in pictures, 18 January 2024

An Indonesian artist walks back after a performance at the India International Ramayana Festival in New Delhi, India, 18 January 2024. Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) organized a five-day long festival emphasizing the enduring relevance and universality of the Ramayana ahead of the Pran Pratistha ceremony, or the inauguration ceremony of the Lord Ram temple in Ayodhya, that is scheduled for 22 January 2024. Pran Pratistha is the act which transforms an idol into a deity, giving it the capacity to accept prayers. The Indian prime minister will perform the Pran Pratishtha ceremony on the inauguration day. EPA-EFE/HARISH TYAGI German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser speaks during a press statement prior to the beginning of a topical debate session of the German parliament 'Bundestag' in Berlin, Germany, 18 January 2024. Among other topics, the German parliament Bundestag discussed the 'Enemies of Democracy and Expulsion Plans', in reaction to revelations of the investigative journalism group Correctiv, and their report about a meeting of far-right politicians, including Alternative for Germany (Afd) party members, who allegedly discussed deportation plans of unwanted persons. EPA-EFE/CLEMENS BILAN Members of various non-governmental organisations take part in a protest against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lead Gujarat Government to demand justice for Bilkis Bano, in Bangalore, India, 18 January 2024. The Supreme Court of India had on 08 January deemed illegal the Gujarat government's decision to grant remission to 11 convicts on their life sentences in the case of gang rape of Bilkis Bano and the murder of seven of her family members during the 2002 Gujarat riots, directing the 11 convicts to surrender before jail authorities. Three convicts out of 11 in the Bilkis Bano case have requested on 18 Januray that the Supreme gives them more time to surrender. EPA-EFE/JAGADEESH NV An Indian visitor arrives at the India International Ramayana Festival in New Delhi, India, 18 January 2024. Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) organized a five-day long festival emphasizing the enduring relevance and universality of the Ramayana ahead of the Pran Pratistha ceremony, or the inauguration ceremony of the Lord Ram temple in Ayodhya, that is scheduled for 22 January 2024. Pran Pratistha is the act which transforms an idol into a deity, giving it the capacity to accept prayers. The Indian prime minister will perform the Pran Pratishtha ceremony on the inauguration day. EPA-EFE/HARISH TYAGI A man goes for a swim on Levante beach, in the coastal city of Benidorm, eastern Spain, 18 January 2024. The temperature is to reach 19 Celsius degrees during the day. EPA-EFE/PEP MORELL Pablo Quintanilla of Chile rides his Honda CRF450 Rally during the Stage 11 of the 2024 Rally Dakar from Alula to Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, 18 January 2024. EPA-EFE/Aaron Wishart A Long March-7 Y8 carrier rocket carrying cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-7 blasts off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site, Hainan Province, China 17 January 2024 (issued 18 January 2024). China launched the cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-7 to deliver supplies for its orbiting Tiangong space station, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA). EPA-EFE/XINHUA / Liu Jinhai A person visits the photographic exhibition 'After Images' at the Shoah Memorial in Milan, Italy, 18 January 2024. The exhibition will be open to the public from 18 January to 25 February 2024 in absolute preview, to be then taken to New York. EPA-EFE/DANIEL DAL ZENNARO People hold orange balloons as they attend a ceremony to mark the first birthday of Israeli toddler Kfir Bibas, who is held hostage by Hamas in Gaza, outside the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv, Israel, 18 January 2024. Attendees were also calling for the immediate release of all hostages. The Bibas family, mother Shiri Bibas, her husband Yarden Bibas along with their children Kfir, who turned one, and four-year-old boy Ariel, were kidnapped by Hamas from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz during the 07 October 2023 attacks. According to the Israeli army, 133 Israelis are still held hostage by Hamas in Gaza. EPA-EFE/ABIR SULTAN Striking workers march towards Belfast City Hall during a public sector strike in Northern Ireland, Britain, 18 January 2024. An estimated 150,000 public sector workers are taking part in a strike over pay which includes road gritters. Public sector workers in Northern Ireland have not received pay rises that have been given to counterparts elsewhere in the UK due to the ongoing political impasse with the Northern Ireland government. There has been no functioning government in the region for almost two years due to a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) boycott of the institution in protest at post-Brexit trading arrangements. EPA-EFE/Mark Marlow Children Felix and Alice play in the snow in Namur, Belgium, 18 January 2024. A perturbation brought up to 15 cm of snow during the last 24 hours in the central region of the country. Many schools canceled lessons as public transport was disrupted by weather. EPA-EFE/OLIVIER HOSLET People attend the preview of the exhibition 'Rembrandt's four senses - his first paintings' in the De Lakenhal museum in Leiden, The Netherlands, 18 January 2024. The museum is celebrating its 150th anniversary and is presenting four paintings by Rembrandt that he made when he lived in Leiden as an 18-year-old. EPA-EFE/Remko de Waal A man steps on an Israeli flag at a street in Sana'a, Yemen, 18 January 2024. The United States has announced the designation of Yemen's Houthis as a global terror group amid an escalation of their attacks on shipping lanes in the Red Sea, the Bab al-Mandab Strait, and the Gulf of Aden since November 2023. The US Department of Defense announced in December 2023 a multinational operation to safeguard trade and protect ships in the Red Sea amid the recent escalation in Houthi attacks. Houthis vowed to keep up attacks on Israeli-bound ships and prevent them from navigating in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait in retaliation for Israel's airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, according to statements by Houthis' military spokesman, Yahya Sarea. EPA-EFE/YAHYA ARHAB A person picks up a piece of ice from the partially frozen Trafalgar Square fountains in London, Britain, 18 January 2024. The UK had its coldest night of this winter so far with the temperatures in London went down as low as -6 degrees Celsius and the freezing conditions are expected to last for the rest of the week. EPA-EFE/TOLGA AKMEN A man rides a horse-drawn cart amid smog at a road in Lahore, Pakistan, 18 January 2024. The thick fog and cold weather have enveloped Lahore and its surroundings, leading to the closure of motorways and causing difficulties for travelers within the city. The Pakistan Meteorological Department has reported that the country is experiencing dry and cold weather, with intensifying cold in the northern areas and dense fog and smog in the plain areas of Punjab, Sindh, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Temperatures have dropped to as low as -7�C in Skardu and -3�C in Astore, Dir Parachinar, and Rawalakot. EPA-EFE/RAHAT DAR Pakistani activists of Muslim Talba Mahaz (MTM) hold a banner reading in Urdu 'Long Live Pakistan rally against the Iranian attack and alliance of Iran-India-Israel' during a protest against Iranian missile strikes at the Pakistani border village in Balochistan province, in Islamabad, Pakistan, 18 January 2024. Iran claimed to have targeted the Baloch separatist and Sunni militant group Jaish ul-Adl in an aerial and drone attack on 16 January 2024 in Pakistan's Balochistan province. On 18 January 2024, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry stated the Pakistani military conducted a series of highly coordinated and precisely targeted strikes against terrorist hideouts in the Iranian province of Siestan-o-Baluchistan, as a demonstration of its determination to protect and defend its national security. EPA-EFE/SOHAIL SHAHZAD

24 hours in pictures, 18 January 2024

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