A look at the headlines right now:

  1. Special CBI court convicts Lalu Prasad Yadav in a fodder scam: Former Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra was also found guilty.
  2. States step up security ahead of Padmaavat’s release: Forty-eight people have been taken into custody after protestors vandalised malls and torched vehicles in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad on Tuesday evening.
  3. Gunmen attack Save the Children office in Afghanistan’s Jalalabad, injure 11: A suicide bomber detonated his explosives at the gate of the compound before the attack began.
  4. Modi warns against climate change, terrorism and protectionism at World Economic Forum in Davos: Maharashtra CM announced the opening of a branch of the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution in Mumbai.
  5. US State Department designates Indian-origin UK citizen Siddhartha Dhar as a global terrorist: Dhar left Britain in 2014 with his family to join the Islamic State, the department said.
  6. At least 30 people killed in two car explosions near mosque in Libya’s Benghazi: The toll may rise, a spokesperson for the al-Jala hospital said.  
  7. BJP, Congress call for day-long bandh to protest against tribal girl’s death in Odisha: The 14-year-old was found hanging in her house on Monday, months after she alleged that some ‘men in uniform’ raped her.
  8. Islamabad will seize control of Hafeez Saeed’s charities, Pakistan PM tells Reuters: Referring to the Army, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi everybody is on board and committed to implementing the UN sanctions.
  9. NIA can investigate all aspects except Hadiya’s marriage, observes SC: After the bench said Hadiya was 24 years old and can make her decisions independently, her husband said he hoped for ‘normal’ life now while her father vowed to ‘fight till the end’.
  10. Police arrest man for raping, murdering his 7-year-old neighbour in Pakistan’s Kasur: The police had arrested the 23-year-old suspect earlier but had to release him for lack of evidence, an official said. 
  11. UN secretary-general offers to mediate if India, Pakistan agree: António Guterres’ office has urged the two countries to resolve disputes through dialogue.