A total of 106 illegal miners and 51 bodies were brought to the surface on the second day of rescue operations at an abandoned gold mine in South Africa, according to police.

This brought the death toll to 60 as nine bodies were recovered on the first day of rescue operations at the old Buffelsfontein Gold Mine in Stilfontein, North West Province. On the same day, 26 illegal miners were rescued.

"On day two of operations, a total of 106 alive illegal miners were retrieved and arrested for illegal mining; 51 were certified dead," the South African Police Service (SAPS) said in a statement.

Police Minister Senzo Mchunu, who visited the area on Tuesday, said the operations are estimated to continue for about 10 days.

In the statement, Athlenda Mathe, national spokesperson for the SAPS, confirmed that those rescued have since been arrested. Among those arrested on Tuesday are 67 from Mozambique, 26 from Lesotho, and 11 from Zimbabwe, in addition to two South African nationals.

Two people have drowned in separate accidents in Western Australia (WA).

Police in WA said on Wednesday that a man aged in his 40s drowned at a beach on the state's south coast on Monday while trying to rescue two children.

The man was among four adults who entered the water at Native Dog Beach, over 400 km southeast of Perth, to assist the children just after 2 pm local time on Monday before encountering difficulty.

He became unresponsive and was carried to the shore by members of the public who performed first aid.

Emergency services were called to the scene and ambulance crews took the man to a nearby medical center, but he could not be revived.

Leading cleantech company Attero on Wednesday launched MetalMandi -- an innovative digital AI-powered platform designed to bring organisation and efficiency to the unorganised metal scrap industry.

By leveraging cutting-edge technology and eco-friendly practices, it offers a seamless, transparent, and fair collection experience for scrap dealers and businesses across the country.

India’s material recycling market is valued at $40 billion and has immense potential for streamlining and formalizing the sector.

MetalMandi aims to capitalise on this opportunity by facilitating the daily transaction of 1,000 tonnes of scrap by May 2025, translating to an annual turnover of Rs 2,000 crore.

Pakistan government's decision to hike petrol price by at least Rs 3.5 per litre from Thursday has invited widespread censure from citizens across the country who are already battling inflation and financial stress.

As per sources in the government, a summary for increase in fuel and petroleum prices has been proposed due to the variation in the global market. Details suggest that the price of light speed diesel may be increased by at least Rs 5 while kerosine oil price may also see a hike of at least Rs 6 per litre.

The proposal to increase prices, submitted by the Federal Petroleum Ministry through a working paper to the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), recommends major adjustments.

The proposed prices will be reviewed by OGRA before being sent to Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for the final approval. The revised rates will stay from January 16 to January 31.

Just days ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration as the 47th US President, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed a lawsuit against his best ally Elon Musk over an alleged securities violation relating to his acquisition of Twitter in 2022.

The SEC lawsuit alleged that the tech billionaire “failed to disclose his 5 per cent ownership stake of Twitter in a timely manner”, violating federal securities law.

The complaint, filed in federal court in Washington, DC, also claimed that the Tesla and SpaceX owner “waited to disclose the acquisition in order to build up a larger position in Twitter at a discounted price”, said reports.

The lawsuit against Musk came as Gary Gensler, Chairman of the SEC, is set to step down on January 20, the day Trump takes over as US President.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and US President Joe Biden held a phone conversation to discuss the intensive mediation efforts undertaken by Egypt, the US, and Qatar to reach a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip and exchange prisoners and detainees.

During the conversation on Tuesday, both leaders stressed the importance of the concerned parties' commitment to overcoming obstacles and showing the necessary flexibility to reach an agreement, the Egyptian presidency said in a statement.

Sisi emphasised the need to reach an immediate ceasefire agreement to put an end to the serious humanitarian suffering of the citizens in the Strip, and spare the region the consequences of expanding the conflict, news agency reported.

The two presidents also highlighted the importance of continuing to strengthen bilateral relations in all fields, especially given the strategic relations between the two countries.

Earlier in the day, Qatar's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Majed Al Ansari confirmed that the Gaza ceasefire talks in Doha have reached an advanced stage.

Investigators detained impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol at his residence on Wednesday in their second attempt to take him into custody for questioning over his short-lived imposition of martial law.

A warrant to detain Yoon was executed at 10:33 a.m., according to the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), marking the first time a sitting president has been arrested, news agency reported.

A convoy of vehicles carrying Yoon left the presidential residence compound in central Seoul shortly afterward to head to the CIO office in Gwacheon, just south of Seoul.

Yoon was seen stepping out of a car and entering the office to undergo questioning before investigators seek a warrant to formally arrest him within 48 hours.

Yemen's Houthi group said in a statement that it targeted a power plant in the southern Israeli port city of Eilat, using a "winged missile."

"The attack achieved its goal successfully," Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said in the statement aired by Houthi-run al-Masirah TV.

Also, Sarea said his group carried out another attack against Israel, targeting vital targets in Tel Aviv city with several bomb-laden drones, news agency reported.

He vowed that his group's attacks against Israel "will not stop until Israel stops war in Gaza and lifts its siege."

The attacks against the power station in Eilat and targets in Tel Aviv came a few hours after the Houthi group took responsibility for launching a ballistic rocket attack against the Israeli Defence Ministry.

Reacting strongly to reports of the death of an Indian national in Russia, India on Tuesday reiterated its demand for the early discharge of the remaining Indians currently serving the Russian Army in the conflict zones.

"We have learnt of the unfortunate death of an Indian national from Kerala who had apparently been recruited to serve in the Russian Army. Another Indian national from Kerala, who was similarly recruited, has been injured and is receiving treatment in a hospital in Moscow," said Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal.

Offering condolences to the family of the deceased, the senior diplomat stated that the Indian Embassy in Moscow is in touch with the families, and all possible assistance is being rendered.

The United Nations and aid partners are responding to deadly Tropical Cyclone Dikeledi battering southeast Africa with high winds and heavy rain, UN humanitarians said.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the UN partners began working with local authorities after the cyclone made landfall on Saturday in northern Madagascar, the same area hit by deadly Cyclone Chido nearly a month ago, news agency reported.

OCHA's latest ReliefWeb status alert reported that Dikeledi's center was over the Mozambique Channel, approximately 75 km east of the coast of Nampula province in northeastern Mozambique. It passed just south of Mayotte, the island where Cyclone Chido inflicted heavy death and destruction.

The government of Madagascar reported that three people were killed and more than 350 displaced to several temporary sites. More than 5,200 people were directly affected, nearly 1,300 homes flooded, and five health centers were damaged.