Millions tuned in across India to watch the opening of a vast Hindu temple on Monday, in a ceremony considered to be the crowning moment for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist ambitions months before he seeks to win a rare third term in elections.

The inauguration of the Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir – a temple devoted to Lord Ram – in northern India’s Ayodhya is more than 30 years in the making and is expected to give a major boost to Modi’s election campaign.

The Ram Mandir is the realization of Modi’s dream to create what he has called a “new India,” which many consider to be the transformation of the country into a distinctly Hindu nation.

For Modi’s detractors, the temple’s inauguration is the conclusion of a decades-long campaign to pull India away from the secular roots upon which the country was founded following independence.

“Today our Lord Ram has come. After centuries of waiting, our Ram has arrived. After centuries of unprecedented patience, countless sacrifices, renunciations, and penances, our Lord Ram has arrived,” Modi said in a speech to a 7,000-strong crowd that included movie stars, top cricket players and tycoons, from the newly-constructed temple bedecked with colorful flowers.

“Ram is not a dispute, Ram is the solution,” he added.

Monday’s ceremony fulfils a long-standing promise to voters by Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government that propelled them to power in 2014.

For years, Modi and his political allies vowed to build a temple on the site of a 16th century mosque that was destroyed by violent Hindu hardliners in a deadly 1992 attack that turbo-charged the country’s Hindu nationalist movement.

The mosque’s demolition, spurred on by the BJP and other right-wing groups, catapulted the party into mainstream politics, winning a general election four years later.

Modi did not directly mention the Babri Masjid in his speech, nor the country’s Muslims, many of whom feel pain and sadness at the events that have unfolded in Ayodhya. He did speak of moving forward and “the beginning of a new time cycle.”

“From today, from this sacred time, we have to lay the foundation for the next 1,000 years. By moving ahead of building the temple, now we all take the oath of building a national, capable, successful, beautiful, and divine India,” Modi said.

Inside the sanctum sanctorum of the temple Monday, Modi presided over the Pran Pratishtha, or consecration ceremony, of an idol of Lord Ram, one of Hinduism’s most revered deities. Depicted as a young boy, the statue of black stone was adorned with gold jewelry, gemstones, diamonds and flowers.

Outside, military helicopters flew over the temple and city releasing flower petals over the vast building and crowds of dignitaries below.

Among the speakers at the event was Mohan Bhagwat, chief of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the right-wing parent organization of the BJP, who said the temple “has become a symbol of a new India that will stand tall.”

“It has been said, and we know, that today in Ayodhya, along with Lord Ram, India’s self has returned,” he said.

Yogi Adityanath, the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh state where Ayodhya is located and one of the country’s most polarizing political figures, called the Ram Mandir India’s “national temple” and an “important ritual of cultural reawakening.”

Throughout the day, saffron flags flew high and marigold flowers adorned building entrances as tens of thousands of devotees thronged the streets of the ancient town in celebratory processions.

Celebrations were held across the country, with politicians encouraging people to take part in festivities in their homes and temples, ensuring it would be a national event.

Uttar Pradesh declared Monday a public holiday, with schools and liquor shops closed across the state.

Hundreds of members of the Indian diaspora gathered in New York on Sunday to celebrate the inauguration under a massive image of Lord Ram projected on a screen in Times Square. Indian embassies around the world hosted watch parties.

Controversy

While millions of Hindus celebrated the opening of the much-awaited complex, which is seen by them as the birthplace of Ram, for the country’s minority Muslim population, it’s a painful reminder of religious divisions they fear are becoming more pronounced under Modi’s BJP government.

The site of the temple was once home to the Babri Masjid, a 16th century mosque, built during the Mughal empire that ruled India from 1526 to 1858.

But the location has been disputed for decades.

Many Hindus believe the mosque was built on the ruins of a Hindu temple, allegedly destroyed by Babar, the first Mughal emperor of South Asia.

In 1992, spurred on by the BJP and other right-wing groups, Hindu hardliners attacked the mosque, triggering widespread communal violence that killed more than 2,000 people nationwide.

The violence was some of the worst seen in India since the bloody clashes that accompanied partition following independence in 1947.

In the following years, Hindu nationalists rallied to build the Ram Mandir on the site of the destroyed mosque, setting the stage for an emotional and politically charged showdown that lasted decades.

India’s Supreme Court in 2019 granted Hindus permission to build the temple on the contested site, effectively ending the dispute. It was seen as a victory for Modi and his supporters but was a blow to many Muslims for whom the destruction of the Babri Masjid remains a source of deep tension and historic loss.

Ayodhya is home to some 3 million people, including about 500,000 Muslims – and some of them are fearful of attacks on the day of the temple’s inauguration.

Many have shared messages of support to one another on social media, with WhatsApp messages urging the community to refrain from traveling on public trains and buses for their own safety.

“The wounds of Babri Mosque’s demolition will always be there. Even if we feel despondent about voicing them,” Khan said. “The temple holds the symbolic value of showing the Muslims their place in New India.”

‘Blurred lines’ between religion and state

Others have accused Modi of “weaponizing” the Hindu faith and using the Ram Temple for political gain.

“Objections include the fact that Modi is not a religious leader and so not qualified to lead the ceremony, and that a Hindu temple cannot be consecrated before it is completed,” said a statement from Hindus for Human Rights, a US-based non-profit advocacy group.

Modi “rushing through and fronting it himself is the latest attempt to weaponize Hinduism in the name of the BJP’s repressive nationalist ideology, ahead of national elections in May,” the statement added.

Modi rose to power in 2014 with a pledge to reform the country’s economy and usher in a new era of development – but he also heavily pushed a Hindutva agenda, an ideology that believes India should become a land for Hindus.

His promise to build the Ram Mandir helped spur that initial election success.

Monday’s temple opening is widely expected to boost Modi’s chances of winning a rare third term in a general election expected later this year, having made true on his promise to millions of voters.

In the run up to the inauguration, Modi fasted and prayed in an 11-day ritual steeped in Hindu religious symbolism. As part of the rituals, Modi visited shrines and temples linked to Lord Ram across the country.

“The Lord has made me an instrument to represent all the people of India during the consecration,” he said in a recorded message on his YouTube channel.

On Sunday, Modi posted a video of himself to social media site X walking into the sea and submerging himself under the water at the Arulmigu Ramanathaswamy Temple in southern Tamil Nadu state.

Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, author of “The Demolition and the Verdict,” a book about the 1992 mosque demolition, said Modi’s decision to preside over Monday’s festivities is a sign of “Hindu hegemony” in India.

“Lines between politics and religions have got blurred,” he said of Modi’s involvement in the ceremony in a country that is constitutionally secular.

“They have also got completely blurred between religion and the Indian state. You have at the moment the Indian prime minister who is actually participating in a purely religious activity, with full participation of the government machinery.”

Hindu devotees flock to witness inauguration

The temple doesn’t open to the public until Tuesday but it is expected to draw vast crowds once that happens, and thousands of devotees were already in town on Monday.

Among those who made the journey was 90-year-old Urmila Chandravanshi, who traveled more than 700 kilometers (435 miles) from the central state of Chhattisgarh.

Clapping and chanting “victory to Lord Ram,” she said she was thrilled to be in Ayodhya and credited Modi for the opening of the temple.

“I have come here to seek blessings from Lord Ram and Sita, I am very happy today,” she said.

“I have come here to seek blessing from Lord Ram, Modi has done so much,” he said. “I feel very good being here.”

A British man long suspected of killing the wife of a famous French film producer in Ireland has died at age 66, according to his lawyer.

Back in 2019, the Paris Criminal Court convicted Ian Bailey in absentia of the murder of TV producer Sophie Toscan du Plantier and sentenced him to 25 years’ imprisonment.

Bailey, a former journalist, had denied involvement in the murder, which has been the subject of a popular podcast series and two TV documentaries, including one on Netflix.

On December 23, 1996, 39-year-old Toscan du Plantier was found bludgeoned to death near the gate of her vacation home near Toormore, in Ireland’s West Cork region. Police found some 50 wounds on her body.

The case was widely publicized as the victim had been married to Daniel Toscan du Plantier, a well-known French film producer.

Days after the murder, local police began questioning Bailey, who lived nearby and had been tasked with reporting on the killing for a national paper. He was arrested twice: first in February 1997 and then in January 1998.

No forensic evidence linked Bailey to the scene of the crime, and he was released without charge. He spent years denying any involvement in the murder.

News of Bailey’s death emerged on Sunday, when his lawyer made a statement to the PA Media news agency.

Frank Buttimer, who had known Bailey since March 1997, said his client had a severe heart condition.

He told PA: “I knew Ian was very unwell, we were in communication in the past five days, but I didn’t know he was terminally unwell.

“He had a very severe heart condition, a very bad heart condition, and had cardiac events prior to Christmas.

“He was a candidate for surgical intervention but wasn’t well enough, so he was trying to become well enough.”

No one else has ever been charged over Toscan du Plantier’s death and her family had long pushed for Bailey to be brought to trial in France.

Under French law, authorities can investigate crimes against French citizens committed outside of its borders, although they cannot insist that witnesses travel for questioning.

Despite insisting on his innocence, many locals said Bailey’s actions over the years created a cloud of suspicion, which continued to follow him around in West Cork for more than two decades.

Weeks after the murder, Bailey’s editor at the now defunct Sunday Tribune told police that he told her that he killed Toscan du Plantier to resurrect his career. According to police documents, Bailey admitted making the comment but said it was a joke.

In the years following his arrests, Bailey alleged he was wrongfully arrested and a victim of police corruption. In 2015, he lost a civil action in the High Court on those claims. A subsequent review by the Irish policing watchdog found problems in the way that Bailey’s arrest was handled, but concluded in 2018 that there was no evidence of police corruption.

No one else has ever been charged with the murder.

Antoine Crouin contributed to this report.

Huge crowds of protesters have descended on cities in Germany as calls for a ban on the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) gain momentum.

Tens of thousands had already braved sub-zero temperatures during the week to protest against the party after it emerged senior AfD members discussed a plan to deport migrants en masse in revelations that have been compared to the Nazi era.

Public anger continued throughout weekend. Crowds of up to 35,000 gathered in Frankfurt on Saturday under the banner “Defend democracy – Frankfurt against the AfD,” while a similar number of people turned out in the northern city of Hanover, the German newspaper Der Spiegel reported. Significant crowds were also seen in Stuttgard, Dortmund and Nuremberg.

On Sunday, tens of thousands of people again took to the streets, with rallies in Berlin, Munich and Cologne, as well as in the cities of Leipzig and Dresden, which are considered more traditional AfD voting strongholds, according to Reuters.

Nearly 100,000 people attended the rally in Munich at its peak on Sunday, local police said. Nearly 30,000 people gathered at the beginning of the Berlin protest, with more people arriving as the event continued, according to Reuters.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has welcomed the protests as “good and right.” In a video message issued Friday night, Scholz said that he tries to imagine “how the more than 20 million citizens who have a history of migration feel” about the deportation plan.

A ‘master plan’ for deportation

Many Germans are outraged by reports that senior members of the AfD discussed a ”master plan” for the mass deportation of German asylum-seekers and German citizens of foreign origin during a meeting late last year.

The gathering of AfD members, neo-Nazis and other far-right extremists took place at a lakeside hotel outside the city of Potsdam on November 25.

It did not come to light until January 10, when the meeting was revealed by the investigative journalism network Correctiv, sparking a wave of protests across Germany.

In its report uncovering the private meeting, Correctiv wrote: “The events that will occur today at the hotel Landhaus Adlon will seem like a dystopian drama. Only they’re real.

“And they will show what can happen when the frontmen of right-wing extremist ideas, representatives of the AfD and wealthy sympathisers come together.”

“The meeting was meant to remain secret at all costs,” the report said.

The AfD denies that such plans are part of its policy and the AfD leadership has sought to distance itself from the gathering, calling it a “private event and not an AfD party event.”

However, the idea of a “mass deportation plan” was openly supported by one AfD representative in the state of Brandenberg. René Springer took to his account on X to write: “We will return foreigners to their homeland. Millions of times. This is not a secret plan. It’s a promise.

“For more security. For more justice. To preserve our identity. For Germany.”

Many have pointed out that the mass deportation plan is evocative of the Nazi era from 1933 to 1945, when millions were transported against their will to concentration, forced labor and extermination camps.

“The plans to expel millions of people are reminiscent of the darkest chapter in German history,” Christian Dürr, parliamentary group leader of the neoliberal Free Democrats Party (FDP), wrote on X.

“I saw a banner yesterday which said, ‘Now is the time to show what we would have done instead of our grandparents.’

“There are parallels. It’s definitely time to take a stand against the right and start opposing the anti-democratic forces.”

She added that members of the AfD had been “making concrete plans to deport millions of people from Germany. We clearly see that these plans are inhumane and an attack on our democracy and the rule of law and on many of our fellow citizens.”

He continued: “This meeting in Potsdam has shown once again how urgent it is that not only politicians speak out, but that a strong signal is sent from the middle of society to defend democracy and our state.”

Asked whether he thought the protests would encourage people to stop voting for the AfD, Abaci was hopeful. “There is a core group of AfD voters who vote for this party out of conviction, but there are of course also voters who have voted for AfD out of protest.

“But now is the time for them to wake up and realize that we are not dealing with a protest party, but with a right-wing extremist party. Our rally could help these people to finally wake up.”

Rallies in Potsdam Sunday were attended by Scholz, the chancellor, as well as Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.

Baerbock said she was there as someone who “stands for democracy and against old and new fascism,” while Scholz this week thanked the demonstrators for taking to the streets “against racism, hate speech and in favour of our liberal democracy.”

Paving a way to outlaw the AfD could prove difficult and risks backfiring. German politicians this week discussed the possibility of calling on the constitutional court to implement a ban.

The German constitution says that parties that seek to undermine the “free democratic basic order” should be deemed unconstitutional.

German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck told the magazine Stern that “the damage that a failed attempt would cause would be massive.”

“Which is why if a case is put, it would have to absolutely 100% stand up in court. It’s something you have to consider very carefully,” he adds.

Many see public displays of backlash against the AfD as crucial, as the far-right party has recently enjoyed record-high polling and is expected to make major gains in regional elections in the eastern states of Thuringia, Saxony and Brandenburg this year.

According to a recent survey published by opinion research institute Forsa, the AfD is currently polling above 30% in all three states – comfortably higher than its rivals.

Nadine Schmidt reported from Berlin and Sophie Tanno wrote in London.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday rejected calls for Palestinian sovereignty following talks with US President Joe Biden about Gaza’s future, suggesting Israel’s security needs would be incompatible with Palestinian statehood.

“I will not compromise on full Israeli security control over all the territory west of Jordan – and this is contrary to a Palestinian state,” Netanyahu said in a post on X

The Israeli leader did not provide any other details in his one-line post in Hebrew. The territory west of Jordan encompasses Israel, the occupied West Bank, and Hamas-run Gaza, where Israel is battling the militant group following the October 7 attacks.

Biden and his top officials — including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who visited Israel and the region last week — have said the creation of a Palestinian state with guarantees for Israel’s security is the only way to finally bring peace and stability to the Middle East.

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Sunday called opposition to a two-state solution “unacceptable.”

“The refusal to accept the two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians, and the denial of the right to statehood for the Palestinian people, are unacceptable,” Guterres posted on X.

Amid reports the US, Egypt and Qatar want Israel to join a new phase of talks with Hamas, Netanyahu this weekend also publicly rejected what he characterized as Hamas’ terms for releasing more Israeli hostages from Gaza: an end of the war, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Palestinian enclave, and the release of more Palestinians from Israeli prisons.

“If we agree to this – our soldiers fell in vain. If we agree to this – we will not be able to guarantee the security of our citizens,” Netanyahu said Sunday.

Global calls for a Palestinian state

Netanyahu’s comments comes amid a rift with the US, Israel’s most important ally, on what Gaza will look like once the conflict ends, and exposes the complex position Netanyahu is in.

The Israeli prime minister is facing competing pressure from the international community to allow the creation of a viable Palestinian state and domestically to guarantee Israel’s security, most notably from far-right members of his coalition.

Adding to the pressure, he is also facing calls for early elections, with thousands taking to the streets of Tel Aviv on Saturday. Critics have accused Netanyahu of prolonging the war to stay in power. War cabinet minister Gadi Eisenkot says he hopes that is not the case, but also says elections should happen within months.

Biden administration officials have recently been engaged in discussions about a future demilitarized Palestinian state, an idea the US president finds “intriguing,” the source said.

Following the phone call, their first in weeks, Biden told reporters he believed Netanyahu could ultimately be convinced of some kind of two-state solution. “There are a number of types of two-state solutions,” he said.

“There’s a number of countries that are members of the UN that are still – don’t have their own military; a number of states that have limitations, and so I think there’s ways in which this can work,” Biden added.

But the day after Biden spoke, the Israeli prime minister’s office said in a statement: “In his conversation with President Biden, Prime Minister Netanyahu reiterated his policy that after Hamas is destroyed Israel must retain security control over Gaza to ensure that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel, a requirement that contradicts the demand for Palestinian sovereignty.”

Biden and Netanyahu remain publicly at odds over the question of what will happen to Gaza once the Israel-Hamas war concludes, despite intense American efforts over the past several months to engage officials in Israel and the wider region on a plan they hope can finally resolve the decades-long conflict.

The two-state solution has been the goal of the international community for decades, dating back to the 1947 UN Partition Plan, and many nations say that it is the only way out of the conflict.

It remains an open question how post-war Gaza will be governed but Netanyahu has had long-standing objections to a two-state solution.

And while Netanyahu’s stance is contentious internationally, he faces pressure from more right-wing members of his cabinet who have caused outrage with their suggestions on what should happen to people living in Gaza.

Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has championed the idea of a Palestinian exodus from Gaza. He and far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir sparked anger when advocating for the resettlement of Palestinians outside the Gaza Strip.

Russia’s aviation watchdog said on Sunday four people survived the crash of a charter plane bound for Moscow in northern Afghanistan, citing the Russian embassy there, and it said the condition of two other passengers on board was not yet clear.

Two Taliban provincial officials said four survivors were now with Taliban administration officials who had reached the remote, mountainous site of the crash. They said that two other passengers had died.

The Taliban administration’s top spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the pilot of the plane was among four who had survived.

“The investigative team of the Islamic Emirate continues their efforts to search for and provide assistance to the remaining individuals,” he said in a statement.

The Russian-registered charter plane with six people on board disappeared from radar screens over Afghanistan a day earlier, Russian aviation authority Rosaviatsia said on Sunday, after Afghan police said they had received reports of a crash.

The plane was a charter ambulance flight travelling from Thailand’s Utapao Airport in Pattaya to Moscow via India and Uzbekistan on a French-made Dassault Aviation, Falcon 10 jet manufactured in 1978, Rosaviatsia said in a statement.

About 25 minutes before the plane vanished from radar screens, the pilot warned that fuel was running low and that the plane would try to land at an airport in Tajikistan, Russian news outlet SHOT reported, citing an unnamed source.

The pilot then reported that one engine had stopped, and then that the second one had also stopped, SHOT reported.

Reuters could not immediately confirm the details shared by SHOT.

India’s civil aviation authority said the plane was not a scheduled commercial flight or an Indian chartered aircraft.

The flight was carrying out a private medical evacuation from Thailand’s Pattaya, a popular tourist destination for Russians, to Moscow, Russian state-run TASS news agency reported, citing the Russian embassy in Bangkok.

“On board was a bedridden patient in serious condition, a Russian citizen, who was transported from one of the hospitals in Pattaya to Russia,” the RIA news agency reported, citing a source at Thailand’s Utapao International Airport.

“She was accompanied by her husband, a private entrepreneur, also a Russian citizen, who paid for the flight.”

Several Russian media outlets said the passengers were a couple from Volgodonsk in southern Russia.

A manifest list for the plane, published by the SHOT news outlet, appeared to show the crew were also Russian nationals.

Russia’s Investigative Committee said it had opened a criminal case to determine if safety rules had been violated.

The plane’s reported owner, a small Russian firm called Athletic Group LLC, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Taliban-run Afghan aviation ministry said in a statement on X that the plane’s planned route did not include passing through Afghanistan’s air space and that “probably due to technical issues” the plane had diverted from its planned route.

The statement said a ministry technical team was investigating the matter.

Afghanistan police had received reports of a plane crash in a remote, mountainous region of Badakhshan in Afghanistan’s far north, a provincial police spokesperson said on Sunday.

Zabihullah Amiri, a spokesperson for Badakhshan’s provincial government, told Reuters a team had been sent to the location of the crash, a remote area more than 200 km (124 miles) from the provincial capital Fayzabad.

When Carlos, an American expat living in Colombia, finally met in person the attractive young woman he had been messaging on a dating app, his apprehension began to melt away.

“When we first met, I had a sort of doubt, but then we somehow decided to go to my apartment to finish watching a football game. Colombia was playing Mexico and we decided to watch the second half at mine,” the single father recalls.

They had a glass of wine and a conversation at his home in Bogota; their chemistry in person seemingly every bit as special as it had been online.

“Then the game ended… and we had a second glass of wine and I remember I felt weird, like heavier in my head. And that’s the last thing I remember.”

Carlos – who asked for his real name to not be used for professional reasons — was so dizzy the next morning that he went to the hospital. Doctors there informed him he had been drugged. It took him days to recover. When Carlos finally returned home, he realized that several of his possessions were missing – including his passport and those of his children.

Carlos is not alone.

While romantic violence, largely targeting women, is not new in Colombia, a recent series of violent incidents in which people looking for love were allegedly assaulted, robbed and in some cases even killed has caught the attention of the US State Department: At least eight “suspicious deaths” of American citizens occurred in the city of Medellin between November and December 2023, according to a warning issued by the US Embassy in Bogota this month about the risks involved with dating apps and meeting strangers alone in an intimate setting.

“Criminals use dating apps to lure victims to meet in public places such as hotels, restaurants, and bars, and then later assault and rob them,” it warned in a security alert published on January 10.

“Numerous US citizens in Colombia have been drugged, robbed, and even killed by their Colombian dates,” it added.

The alert recommends that US citizens in the country “be vigilant, maintain heightened situational awareness, and incorporate strong personal security practices.”

Most online dating applications also offer help lines in case of incidents on dates and share similar tips: always meet your date in public places, especially at the beginning of a relationship, and if you feel pressured to go somewhere private, end the date.

At this point, US officials do not believe the eight deaths are linked, “however, several of the deaths point to possible drugging, robbery and overdose, and several involve the use of dating applications,” the embassy alert said.

US officers have also seen an increase in reports of robbery cases involving online dating apps in the last 12 months, the alert notes.

And it suggests the actual number of victims may be even higher, because “victims are embarrassed and do not want to follow through with the judicial process.”

An anti-nausea medication

Incidents resulting in the death of foreign citizens or tourists in Colombia are relatively unusual – in the last two months of 2022, just one US citizen died in Colombia , in a drowning in the Caribbean coast city of Santa Marta.

But as post-pandemic travel and tourism to the country ramp up, violent crime appears to be rising too. In Medellin alone, thefts committed against foreigners in the third trimester last year increased 200% from the same period in 2022, according to the Embassy.

And in many cases of robbery or kidnapping, criminals use drugs and sedatives to render their victim helpless.

On an average night out in Bogotá or Medellin it’s not uncommon to hear warnings about Burundanga, the Colombian name for scopolamine, a powerful and hard-to-detect alkaloid that in concentrated forms can render a victim unconscious for up to 24 hours and, in large quantities, can cause respiratory failure and death.

Scopolamine is used legitimately and in small quantities as an anti-nausea medication, but criminals have used the narcotic for thefts and robberies for a while: The US Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) has been warning about scopolamine in Colombian tourist hotspots as far back as 2012, stating that up to 50,000 incidents related to the drug were taking place every year in the country. In June 2023, the US State Department said that in Bogota, crimes involving scopolamine appeared to be on the rise.

The effects of the drug can be long-lasting.

‘We want a positive tourism’

He hopes the new scrutiny triggered by the US Embassy alert could change things.

“I understand that Colombia is a country where a lot of crime happens, and I guess crimes like this are seen as small by the authorities… or maybe they don’t have resources to deal with this. But now we’re talking about eight people who have been killed in recent months,” Carlos said.

However, the alert seems to have caused a stir among at least some local authorities. Medellin mayor Federico Gutierrez, for example, told reporters last week that he would like to see more visitors focus on what he described as “positive tourism” than the use of dating apps.

“We want more foreigners to come to Medellin, US citizens, Europeans, whoever, but we want a positive tourism,” he said, when asked about the matter. “People who want to come here to do sex-and-drugs tourism are mistaken.”

One of the first measures Gutierrez passed after taking office on January 1 was to issue a ban on drug consumption in public places. A similar order has also been issued in Cartagena, another tourist hotspot in the Colombian Caribbean coast that has seen a rise in street prostitution and drug-related incidents following the rise in tourism at the end of the pandemic.

“Last year, 482,000 foreigners came to Medellin, so it’s not like everyone who comes to Medellin finds those problems. I guarantee, those who come to Medellin to do positive tourism, to see our culture and visit our museums, our squares, don’t run any risk,” Gutierrez also said.

‘She could have done anything’

Looking back, Carlos says he feels relatively lucky – and relieved that the woman appears to have been acting alone. CCTV footage taken from a nearby shop showed her leaving the apartment by herself carrying his laptop and other electronics.

Things could have turned out much worse. “If you think about it, it’s just scary to be there, drugged, passed out, unable to defend yourself. She could have done anything she wanted,” he said.

While he hasn’t been on any dating apps since then, Carlos does not blame the apps for his experience.

He does, however, feel authorities and society at large need to take a new approach to responding to cases like his.

“Unfortunately, people around me essentially said it was my fault for doing this (going on a dating app). I think that in this time and age this is the way many people meet, and there’s nothing wrong with it. Some people instead made me feel like it was my fault for having looked to meet women this way.”

He says that when he reported the incident to the police, he felt like he was being blamed for not being more cautious.

“[They] essentially were like: ‘Why did you do this, you know it’s dangerous, things like this can happen to you’ instead of taking up their responsibilities,” he said.

The IDF said rescuing the hostages and finding and returning their bodies is one of its key missions in Gaza, which is why bodies were removed from some gravesites.

In the Shajaiya neighborhood of Gaza City, Israeli military vehicles could be seen where the cemetery once stood, with berms surrounding them on all sides. The central part of the Shajaiya cemetery was cleared before the war, according to local media reports. But satellite imagery showed other portions were more recently bulldozed, and an IDF presence visible, from December 10.

A similar scene of destruction was visible at the Bani Suheila cemetery, east of Khan Younis, where satellite imagery revealed the graveyard’s deliberate and progressive bulldozing, and the creation of defensive fortifications over the course of at least two weeks in late December and early January.

At the Al Falouja cemetery in the Jabalya neighborhood, north of Gaza City, the Al-Tuffah cemetery, east of Gaza City, and a cemetery in Gaza City’s Sheikh Ijlin neighborhood, destroyed tombstones and heavy tread marks pointed to heavily armored vehicles or tanks driving over graves.

Israel has said that 253 people were taken hostage during the Hamas terror attacks on October 7 and believes 132 hostages are still in Gaza – 105 of them alive and 27 dead.

‘I couldn’t find her grave’

Munther al Hayek’s daughter Dina was killed in the 2014 Gaza war. In early January he visited Dina’s grave at Sheikh Radwan cemetery in Gaza City, but she wasn’t there. He tried to find his grandmother’s grave. It wasn’t there either.

Mosab Abu Toha, a poet from Gaza whose work has been published in the New York Times and the New Yorker, also learned that the cemetery where his younger brother and grandfather are buried was heavily damaged by the Israeli military.

The occupation forces destroyed and bulldozed them… The scenes are horrific. We want the world to intervene to protect Palestinian civilians.”

Munther al Hayek, whose daughter’s grave was destroyed

The death toll in Gaza is growing by the day. More than 24,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks, according to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health in Gaza. Burials often happen quickly in accordance with Islamic practice, and, since the war began, the dead have often been buried in mass graves.

Respecting the dead

International law experts say the desecration of burial grounds contravenes the Rome Statute, the 1998 treaty that established and governs the International Criminal Court (ICC) to adjudicate war crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity, and crimes of aggression. Israel, which originally supported the creation of the court, did not ratify the Rome Statute.

Cemeteries are given protections as “civilian objects” under international law and are afforded special protections, with limited exceptions.

Cemeteries can only be attacked or destroyed if the other warring party uses them for military purposes, or if doing so is deemed a military necessity, with the military advantage gained outweighing the damage to civilian objects.

South Africa raised the IDF’s destruction of graveyards in Gaza as part of its case at the International Court of Justice arguing Israel is committing genocide. Israel denies the allegation, but Dill said that while the destruction of cemeteries alone does not amount to genocide, it can add to evidence of Israel’s intent.

“There’s huge symbolic meaning to the notion that not even the dead are left in peace,” Dill said. “International humanitarian law protects the dignity of people who are outside of combat or the combat, and that protection doesn’t end when they die.”

But, in at least two cases, it is clear pains have been taken to respect the dead – at cemeteries where Palestinians aren’t buried.

Just a half mile away from the destroyed Al-Tuffah cemetery, east of Gaza City, a cemetery holding the bodies of mostly British and Australian soldiers who died in World War I and II stands largely intact. A crater on the burial grounds appears in satellite imagery between October 8 and October 15, but it has otherwise been untouched by the war.

A second cemetery administered by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in central Gaza offers an even starker example. Mangled vehicles and destroyed roads lay all around the cemetery. But the graveyard itself, which contains the graves of mostly Christians and some Jewish soldiers from World War I, is intact.

What is happening is a clear violation of these basic rules and considered a war crime of ‘committing outrages upon personal dignity’ under the Rome Statute.”

Muna Haddad, a human rights lawyer

Israeli soldiers even posed with an Israeli flag by the grave of a Jewish soldier buried there and another image posted to social media shows a tank sitting on the edge of the graveyard – respecting the sanctity of that hallowed ground.

“What is happening is a clear violation of these basic rules and considered a war crime of ‘committing outrages upon personal dignity’ under the Rome Statute,” she said.

For the first time, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky has expressed publicly unequivocal concern over Donald Trump’s suggestion he could end the Russia-Ukraine war within a day if he returns to the White House.

Speaking to Britain’s Channel Four News in an interview that aired Friday, the Ukrainian president described the Republican frontrunner’s boast as “very dangerous” – on the grounds that Trump has not said what his post-war scenario would look like.

Zelensky conceded it was possible Trump’s claim was just electioneering, or what he called a “political message.”

But he said the idea that Trump as president might unilaterally make decisions that do not work for Ukraine or its people, and seek to drive them through regardless, “makes me really quite stressed.”

Asked how, Trump said he would meet both Zelensky and Russian leader Vladimir Putin, telling Collins, “They both have weaknesses and they both have strengths and within 24 hours that war will be settled, that war will be over.”

Zelensky has generally stayed away from criticizing Trump, preferring not to lean-in too heavily to the split between Democrats and Trump-supporting Republicans, who have effectively put a block on further US funding for Kyiv.

At Davos earlier this week, responding to a similar question from a journalist, the Ukrainian leader answered rhetorically, wondering how Trump would respond if Putin rolled through Ukraine – in a scenario where Trump removed all US support – and began threatening NATO members with invasion.

It is widely believed that a Trump victory in November is something Putin would welcome, giving him the opportunity, at a minimum, to hold onto his territorial gains in Ukraine and declare a victory.

By contrast, Zelensky continues to insist there can be no peace deal that does not see the removal of all Russian forces from lands they have captured from Ukraine since 2014, including Crimea.

Ukraine’s ability to negotiate toward that result has been significantly weakened, at least in the short term, by the failure of the summer counteroffensive.

Even so, the Biden administration, and the NATO alliance, have repeatedly stressed Ukraine will not be coerced into any agreement with Russia, summed up in the phrase: “Nothing about Ukraine, without Ukraine.”

Offered the chance in the Channel Four News interview to invite Trump to Ukraine, Zelensky did not hesitate.

Turning to address the camera, he said, “Please, Donald Trump, I invite you to Ukraine, to Kyiv. If you can stop the war during 24 hours, I think it will be [reason] enough to come.”

“Maybe Donald Trump really has some idea, a real idea, and he can share it with me,” Zelensky added, returning to face the interviewer.

Saffron flags are flying in the majority Hindu town of Ayodhya as excited locals prepare to host Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the inauguration of a new multimillion-dollar temple.

But like many of the town’s 500,000 Muslims, 65-year-old Maulana Badshah Khan says he’ll be staying at home.

He fears a repeat of the religious violence that erupted more than 30 years ago, when Hindu nationalists destroyed the Babri Masjid, a 16th century mosque, triggering riots across the country.

On Monday, Modi will officially open the Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir, a lavish temple built on the same site that analysts say is a monument to Hindu nationalist ambition.

Khan says he believes the celebration is a clear sign of how Muslims are becoming marginalized under the leadership of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

“The wounds of Babri Mosque’s demolition will always be there. Even if we feel despondent about voicing them,” said Khan.

“The temple holds the symbolic value of showing the Muslims their place in New India.”

Fear and anxiety

More than 7,000 people have been invited to Ayodhya to attend the ceremony in person, including high-profile politicians who are flying in from across the vast country to take part. And tens of thousands of pious Hindus are thronging to the small town to place flowers and gifts inside the temple.

Amid these increasing crowds, there is apprehension among Ayodhya’s Muslims.

Azam Qadri, the 39-year-old head of a local religious body, said that those who lived through the 1992 violence fear the arrival of outsiders.

“Every time people come from outside there is trouble. One cannot afford to lose their precious belongings, savings, or identity papers anymore. It is not easy to restart your life again,” he said.

Haji Mahboob, who lost two relatives during the 1992 violence, said local Muslims are worried the emboldened crowds will chant provocative slogans against them.

“They will call for Muslims to be expelled from Ayodhya or demand a Hindu Rashtra (nation),” he said.

Mahboob said there is now a sense of hopelessness among his community.

Many Muslims believed that in 2019, when the Supreme Court granted Hindus permission to build the temple on the contested site, the controversy might come to an end, he said. But instead, emboldened Hindus began targeting even more mosques across the country, campaigning to tear those down too.

“The Hindus cannot stand us, they cannot see us, what can we do?” he said.

The rise of Hindu nationalism

Modi rose to power in 2014 with a pledge to reform the country’s economy and usher in a new era of development – but he also heavily pushed a Hindutva agenda, an ideology that believes India should become a land for Hindus.

Many states have passed legislation that critics say is rooted in Hindutva and discriminatory toward Muslims, including laws that make it increasingly difficult for interfaith couples to marry and banning the slaughter and transport of cows – an animal considered sacred to Hindus.

And one of Modi’s key promises to his voters was to build the Ram Temple on the desecrated mosque’s site, and he’s hoping its construction will firm his chances for a rare third election win this year.

Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, author of “The Demolition and the Verdict,” a book about the 1992 mosque demolition, said Modi’s decision to preside over Monday’s festivities is a sign of Hindu hegemony in India.

Modi’s involvement in the ceremony is indicative of how the line between the state and religion is becoming increasingly blurred, he said.

Mukhopadhyay added the sentiment among Muslims is not one of celebration. He has heard that Muslims are advising each other not to travel by train, not to drive cars alone and not to wear clothing that identifies them as Muslim.

“There is going to be immense sadness and there is also going to be tremendous fear (among India’s Muslims),” he said.

“In terms of Prime Minister Modi’s government’s work, initiatives, and developmental agenda, not one scheme, program, or anything, distinguishes between Indian citizens on the basis of religion, caste, region,” he said.

The new mosque

In the years following the demolition of the Babri Masjid, Hindu nationalists rallied to build the Ram Mandir on the site of the destroyed mosque, setting the stage for an emotional and politically charged showdown that worried Indian liberals, who feared more outbursts of sectarian violence.

That 2019 judgement that paved the way for the building of the Ram Mandir also allocated land for the town’s Muslims to build another mosque, some 25 kilometers (about 15 miles) from the Ram Mandir in a village called Dhannipur.

Mahboob, one of the petitioners who fought for the Babri mosque in the Supreme Court, said for most Muslims of Ayodhya, its construction does not hold emotional sway.

“If they built the mosque close to where Babri stood, we could have tried to convince ourselves that injustice was not happening to us. However, this land is so far away, and over that the construction has not even begun. So what do we say?”

He said the delays were due to disagreements about the design of the building but believes the new mosque will be unique as it will be the first in India with five minarets.

Amongst other ambitious plans, Shaikh says he wants additional land for educational institutions, a vegetarian kitchen, and a 21-foot-long Quran which will be painted saffron – a color closely associated with Hinduism but one that has become increasingly politicized and appropriated by the Hindu-right.

Shaikh said the color was chosen because Gharib Nawaz, a famous Sufi saint, also revered saffron.

“It will bring the two communities closer,” he said.

Enduring divisions

Right-wing Hindu nationalist organizations say the temple’s opening is a symbol of a new Hindu nation.

“The Mughals tried to change us, then the English tried to change us, but the inauguration of the Ram Temple shows the world that our Hindu traditions, practices, and beliefs are still intact. New India will see a resurrection of the Hindu civilization,” said Vinod Bansal, spokesperson of the right-wing Vishwa Hindu Parishad group.

Mahant Jairam Das, the local head of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the parent organization of the BJP, said he does not believe the mosque should not be built in Ayodhya, instead claiming calls to build the structure were a “call for war.”

“Go to Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, or a Muslim-dominated country. Why build a mosque like this in India?” he said.

For Hassan Ali, who was just nine when he spent two nights in a local police station trying to escape the 1992 violence, the sectarian fault lines are clearly visible.

“In 1992 there were many stories of local Hindus and Muslims helping each other. However now, there is a lot more poison that has been fed to people,” he said. “So one cannot tell anymore. One cannot tell what people have in their hearts.”

Ornate gifts have started arriving in the Indian city of Ayodhya as the country’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi prepares to inaugurate a vast Hindu temple that he hopes will firm his chances for a rare third election win in just a few months’ time.

Though still not complete, the sprawling Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir fulfils a long-standing promise by Modi to build a Hindu temple on the site of a 16th century mosque that was destroyed by Hindu mobs more than 30 years ago.

That attack transformed India and turbo-charged the country’s Hindu nationalist movement.

For that reason, Monday’s ceremony is highly controversial, and while many Hindus will be celebrating its inauguration, for the country’s minority Muslim population, it’s a painful reminder of religious divisions they fear are becoming more pronounced under Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government.

Here’s what you need to know.

What’s happening in Ayodhya on Monday?

An idol of Lord Ram, one of Hinduism’s most revered deities, will be unveiled inside the sanctum sanctorum of the temple, in a consecration ceremony conducted by Modi and broadcast to millions.

More than 7,000 people have been invited to attend the ceremony in person, including high-profile politicians who are flying in from across the vast country to take part.

Some 100 chartered planes are expected to land in Ayodhya on Monday, with hotel prices surging and last-minute bookings costing upwards of $1,200 per day, according to local media reports.

Since January 16, priests have been conducting prayers and performing rituals as workers move the idol into the temple’s complex. Senior leaders of the BJP have given numerous television interviews about the events, with Indian news channels running 24/7 coverage about the temple’s festivities.

The ceremony is also expected to be aired abroad in Indian embassies and on huge TV screens in New York’s Times Square.

Ahead of the event, Modi has been fasting and praying in an 11-day ritual steeped in Hindu religious symbolism.

“The Lord has made me an instrument to represent all the people of India during the consecration,” he said in a recorded message on his YouTube channel.

“I seek blessings from all of you,” Modi added.

Why is the Ram Mandir so controversial?

The site of the temple was once home to the Babri Masjid, a 16th century mosque, built during Mughal rule that ruled India from 1526 to 1858.

But many Hindus believe the Babri Masjid was built on the ruins of a Hindu temple, allegedly destroyed by Babar, the first Mughal emperor of South Asia.

The site is significant to them because they believe it’s the birthplace of Lord Ram, now honored with the construction of the new Ram Mandir.

Hindu nationalist groups had for years campaigned to demolish the mosque to build a temple in its place. In 1992, spurred on by the BJP and other right-wing groups, Hindu hardliners attacked it with hammers, triggering widespread communal violence.

Dozens of temples and mosques were also targeted in a series of revenge attacks that killed more than 2,000 people nationwide.

The violence was some of the worst seen in India since the bloody clashes that accompanied partition following independence in 1947.

In the following years, Hindu nationalists rallied to build the Ram Mandir on the site of the destroyed mosque, setting up an emotional and politically charged showdown that lasted decades.

In 2019, India’s Supreme Court granted Hindus permission to build the temple on the contested site, ending the dispute.

It was seen as a victory for Modi and his supporters but was a blow to many Muslims for whom the destruction of the Babri Masjid remains a source of deep tension and loss.

What is Modi’s involvement in the temple?

Modi rose to power in 2014 with a pledge to reform the country’s economy and usher in a new era of development – but throughout his political career he also heavily pushed a Hindutva agenda, an ideology that believes India should become a land for Hindus.

While in power, Modi’s party rallied to build the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya in another promise to his core voters, a move seen by many as favoring the country’s Hindu majority.

When the Supreme Court delivered its verdict four years ago, Modi said the decision had “brought a new dawn” for the nation and would lead to the “creation of a new India.”

Critics say Hindu nationalist politicians have torn India away from the secular founding principles and that the building of the temple in Ayodhya is the crowning achievement in their multi-decade campaign to transform the country.

The temple’s opening next week is widely expected to boost Modi’s chances of winning a rare third term in a general election expected later this year, having made true on his promise to millions of voters.

While the government hasn’t funded the construction of the temple, Modi and his BJP have heavily promoted its inauguration, with a colossal push to put it on par with a historic national event.

The BJP’s parent organization, the right-wing Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, has distributed food to some 50 million families nearby, according to BJP officials, urging them to participate in the temple celebrations.

What are Muslims saying about the temple?

Muslims make up roughly 200 million of India’s 1.4 billion population. Ayodhya, located in the electorally significant northern state of Uttar Pradesh, is home to some 3 million people, including about 500,000 Muslims – and some of them are fearful of attacks on the day of the temple’s inauguration.

Many Muslims have shared messages of support to one another on social media, with WhatsApp messages urging the community to refrain from traveling on public trains and buses for their own safety.

The 2019 Supreme Court order that paved the way for the construction of the Ram temple also said authorities must set aside land for a mosque to be built about 25 kilometers (15 miles) away.

But construction of the mosque is not expected to begin until May.

Some prominent Muslim lawmakers have criticized the inauguration of the temple, lamenting the loss of the Babri mosque where their ancestors recited the Quran hundreds of years ago.

“Young people, we have lost our Masjid (mosque) and you are seeing what is being done there,” said Asaduddin Owaisi, chief of the All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen political party, to his followers during a speech earlier this month. “Don’t you have pain in your hearts?”

What is the opposition doing?

The BJP’s main opposition, the Indian National Congress, has announced it will boycott the inauguration, claiming the event is being politicized by the BJP.

Responding to the Congress’ decision to miss the ceremony, BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi told reporters it was driven by “jealousy, malice and inferiority complex towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” adding that the party is opposing the “country” and “god.”

How much will the temple cost and what will it look like?

Indian engineering group Larsen and Toubro is constructing the temple within a 70-acre (28 hectares) complex, with the construction expected to cost about 15 billion rupees ($180 million).

The government has not provided funds for its establishment. Instead, donations of about 30 billion rupees ($361 million) have been collected for the complex.

Three sculptors carved murals of Lord Ram, one of which was picked by a panel to reside inside the sanctum sanctorum. The black stone sculpture weighs between 150 – 200 kgs (440 lbs) and depicts the deity as a five-year-old boy.