Western countries, particularly the United States, have been destabilising other nations and manipulating public opinion on the pretext of "democracy," the Syrian Foreign Ministry said.

"The West continues to exploit the notion of promoting and protecting democracy as a tool to subjugate nations and break the will of their people," the ministry stated, singling out Washington's "Janus-faced policy" in silencing voices that support the Palestinian cause while championing the so-called "freedom of expression" and "democracy."

The ministry identified the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), primarily funded by the US Congress, as a "front for undermining governments and interfering in the internal affairs of sovereign states."

Two people have been killed and seven injured in a shooting at the office of Russian online retailer Wildberries, according to the Russian Investigative Committee.

According to preliminary information, on Wednesday a shooting took place at the Wildberries office located on Romanov Lane in Moscow, the investigative committee said.

Seven people have been injured, including two law enforcement officers that arrived at the scene, reports news agency.

Two people have died from their injuries, according to the investigative committee.

Wildberries, the largest online retailer in Russia, is owned by Tatyana Bakalchuk, a Russian entrepreneur as well as the retailer's founder and CEO, and co-owned by her husband Vladislav Bakalchuk.

A two-year-old girl, Neeru Gurjar, who was trapped in a pit near a borewell in Bandikui in Rajasthan's Dausa, was rescued after around 20 hours of operation.

She fell into the pit on Wednesday and was rescued after much effort which continued throughout the night.

The people involved in the rescue mission, her family and those assembled there burst into loud cheers after the girl was taken out successfully. She was rushed to the hospital soon. 'Vande Mataram' slogans were raised after the successful operation.

As per officials, the rescue teams dug near the pit which was 31 feet deep. Then a 20-foot-long pipe was inserted towards the girl.

India rose to third place in the list of global cross-border capital destinations for land and development sites in the first half of 2024, a report showed on Thursday, adding that investments in Indian real estate sector will remain steady.

With $3.5 billion of inflows in the January-June period, institutional investor interest in Indian real estate has remained firm.

While 70 per cent of investments during H1 2024 were focused on ready assets, India’s fast-paced growth and infrastructure development will continue to offer numerous opportunities in developmental assets over the coming years, according to the report by Colliers.

Known for belting out hits such as "Paradise", "A Sky Full Of Stars", 'The Scientist" and "Fix You", British rock band Coldplay is set to take the stage in India’s entertainment capital, Mumbai for the second time. They will be performing on January 18 and 19.

This is the second time that Coldplay, which consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer and percussionist Will Champion, will be performing in India, they last visited the country in 2016 when they performed in Mumbai as a part of the Global Citizen Festival.

The band will perform at the D.Y. Patil Sports Stadium in the Nerul area of Navi Mumbai as a part of the band’s Music of the Spheres World Tour. It follows the sellout success of the band’s summer 2024 European stadium shows and the announcement of eight new shows in the UK.

In yet another feat to India’s growing clout in the world economy, the country has become the sixth-largest market in the MSCI All Country World Investable Market Index (ACWI IMI), surpassing China.

The global index tracks capital market performance across the world. The index includes large- and mid-cap stocks and is a more inclusive version of the widely tracked MSCI ACWI Index.

India’s weight in the MSCI ACWI IMI stood at 2.35 per cent in August, 11 basis points higher than China’s 2.24 per cent. India trails France marginally, by just three basis points. China's weight has fallen by half since peaking in early 2021, while India’s weight has more than doubled during this period.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, who was admitted to Delhi's Apollo Hospital is under observation and is doing well, according to hospital sources.

The Hospital sources told that CM Mann came for a routine checkup and was doing fine. However, it is unclear when he will be discharged.

There has been no official statement either by the party or the government about CM Mann’s condition.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a Shiite militia group claimed responsibility for a previous drone attack on a "vital site" in northern Israel's port city of Haifa.

The attack was executed on Tuesday evening "in solidarity with the people of the Gaza Strip," the group said in a statement, pledging to continue targeting "the enemy's strongholds."

The statement did not detail the specific site impacted or report any casualties, news agency reported.

So far there has been no comment from the Israeli side on the attack.

Aam Aadmi Party on Thursday said that Rajya Sabha MP Atishi will take oath as the Chief Minister of Delhi on September 21. "Atishi will take oath as the Chief Minister of Delhi on September 21, other ministers will also take their oaths alongside her," the Aam Aadmi Party said in a statement.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Atishi, who has staked claim to become the next Delhi Chief Minister, said on Tuesday that she is happy about the trust posed in her by the outgoing CM Arvind Kejriwal but also sad that he has resigned from his post.

The Ukrainian parliament has voted to allocate an additional 495.3 billion hryvnias (about $11.96 billion) for defence, the country's Finance Ministry has said.

The voting on Wednesday was supported by 298 votes in favour, surpassing the required minimum of 226, lawmaker Yaroslav Zheleznyak was quoted by news agency as saying.

With the sum, Ukraine's expenditures for defence will reach 3.73 trillion hryvnias (about $90 billion) in 2024, Zheleznyak wrote on Telegram.

Ukraine will source additional funds for military needs from hiked taxes and additional placement of domestic government debt bonds, among other sources, according to lawmaker Rolsolana Pidlasa.