February 8 News Live: 2 dead, several feared trapped as Kota building collapses

The Dalai Lama’s office on Sunday (February 8) denied any connection with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a day after media reports claimed his name appeared 169 times in files released by the US Department of Justice.

"Some recent media reports and social media posts concerning the “Epstein files” are attempting to link His Holiness the Dalai Lama with Jeffrey Epstein. We can unequivocally confirm that His Holiness has never met Jeffrey Epstein or authorised any meeting or interaction with him by anyone on His Holiness’s behalf," the statement released by the office of Dalai Lama said.

Washington Post publisher Will Lewis said Saturday (February 7) that he’s stepping down, three days after the troubled newspaper said that it was laying off one-third of its staff.

The Post’s chief financial officer, Jeff D’Onofrio, was named acting publisher and CEO. He joined the newspaper only last June.

Read the full report here.

Four Indians students were among at least six people injured in a stabbing attack on Saturday (February 7) at a university in Russia’s Bashkortostan Republic, the Indian mission said.

According to preliminary reports, a teenager armed with a knife entered a dormitory of the State Medical University in Ufa in the Bashkortostan Republic. He attacked the students living there and stabbed several of them, the Interior Ministry said.

The attacker, identified as a 15-year-old youth, has also been admitted to a local children’s hospital in serious condition, the Baza telegram channel said.

The Baza channel claimed that the attacker belonged to a banned neo-Nazi outfit.

Read the full report here.

At least two people were killed and several others feared trapped when a three-storey building collapsed in Rajasthan’s Kota on Saturday (February 7) night.

The incident occurred in the Talwandi area, where a restaurant was operating in the building. Police and rescue teams hurried to the spot and launched a rescue operation.

Calling it a “major accident”, Rajasthan Cabinet Minister Madan Dilawar said, "There is information of two deaths so far, and nine people were hospitalised. Four of them are still in the hospital, while around four have either shifted to a private hospital or gone home.”

The cause of the collapse is being investigated, and a rescue operation is underway, he added.

According to initial information, some customers and employees were present in the restaurant at the time of the collapse.

Local MLA Sandeep Sharma, who reached the spot soon after the incident, said the building collapsed suddenly and there was a possibility that more people were trapped under the debris.