DAILY NEWS Stream – January 24, 2026

India and the United Arab Emirates [UAE] seal a US$3 billion Liquefied Natural Gas pact and deepen defense, trade and space cooperation during UAE President, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s visit to New Delhi [India] (Fortune India)

Laos, Thailand and Malaysia sign a new electricity transmission agreement to channel 100 megawatts of Lao power to Singapore through Thailand and Malaysia’s grids, advancing ASEAN [Association of Southeast Asian Nations]’s regional energy integration and cross-border power trade goals (The Nation Thailand)

The Philippines discovers a new offshore gas well near Malampaya with output potential to power millions of households (Tuổi Trẻ)

Taiwan (Formosa)’s legislature releases an Animal Companion Disaster Preparedness and Evacuation Handbook outlining practical steps for protecting pet-people during earthquakes, typhoons and other emergencies, with officials and veterinary groups promoting it as a key tool for boosting national disaster resilience (Taipei Times)

Türkiye’s number of registered electric vehicles doubles in 2025 to more than 370,000 as charging expansion and domestic models boost adoption (Türkiye Today)

Japan’s Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae calls a snap election for February 8 to seek voter backing for higher spending, tax cuts and a new security strategy (Tuổi Trẻ)

Health benefits of ginger for supporting kidney health: +Packed with gingerol and shogaol, ginger offers potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. +Protection from oxidative stress that can damage tissues and accelerate kidney disease. +It helps kidneys function optimally, filtering waste and toxins from the blood more effectively.

Boosting kidney efficiency is crucial for overall health as they constantly work to detoxify the body (CLEANKIDNEYS)

New research from Shandong First Medical University [China] reveals a link between insomnia and reduced gut bacteria diversity. Low levels of beneficial, anti-inflammatory bacteria may disrupt sleep quality (Earth.com)

A Hanoi [Âu Lạc (Vietnam)] man with heart disease suffers a stroke after following an AI [artificial intelligence] chatbot’s advice to switch his life-saving anticoagulants for antiplatelet drugs (Thanh Niên)

An Arctic cold wave drives temperatures in Kyiv [Ukraine (Ureign)] to −20°C, crippling a power grid already devastated by Russian strikes. Over 5,000 buildings in the city lack heat and schools are closed nationwide until February 1 due to the severe conditions (The Watchers)

An extreme G5 geomagnetic storm triggers vivid northern lights across Britain, reaching as far south as Cornwall. Experts warn of potential disruptions to power grids, satellites, and GPS [global positioning systems] from such events (Daily Mail)

Rare snowfall blankets Shanghai as a powerful cold wave sweeps southern China. Authorities shut 241 road sections across 12 provinces, warning that frigid temperatures and icy conditions could persist for days (Reuters)

Rare snow blankets the Florida Panhandle [US] for a second consecutive winter as Arctic air pushes south, a meteorological rarity documented only nine times since 1900 (The Watchers)

Laos and Germany sign expanded conservation pact with new European Union-backed funding to strengthen Laos’s forest governance and biodiversity protection (Laotian Times)

A decade-long study shows Adélie, chinstrap and gentoo penguin-people advancing their Antarctic breeding seasons at record rates in apparent response to warming, raising fears of food mismatches, intensified interspecies competition and accelerating population declines across the region (The Guardian)

Balenciaga of France debuts software-driven 3D weaving and bioengineered vegan silk in its Spring 26 collection. Developed with startups Weffan and AMSilk, these innovations significantly reduce waste, water use, and carbon emissions (Fibre2Fashion)

Utrecht University [the Netherlands] students launch De Pit, a vegan lunch project offering fresh meals for €5 on campus. The initiative aims to promote sustainable eating through low-waste, mostly volunteer-led cooking (DUB)

Ugandan church leaders and climate activists unite to promote the Plant Based Treaty at a meeting in Kampala. They urge a policy shift away from industrial animal-people raising toward farming to address deforestation, public health crises, and food insecurity (Nile Post)

Social worker Jackie Parra helps unhoused Los Angeles [US] residents with mental illness retain their pet-people through emotional support animal advocacy. Her efforts prevent housing-related surrenders [to get housed or keep the housing they have] and reduce overcrowding at city animal-person shelters (LAist)

Toronto [Canada] resident Minjae Cho transforms public transit through daily greetings and messages of kindness. Documenting these interactions on social media platform Instagram, he earns widespread praise for reducing isolation and building community (Good News Network)

Austin [Texas, US] fire crews and animal-people officers rescue an exhausted beaver-person trapped in a water treatment reservoir. Responders use a rope hoist to save the animal friend before transporting it for recovery (The Cool Down)

Enlightening quote of the day: “All souls are equal and alike and have the similar nature and qualities.” The Venerated Enlightened Jain Master Lord Mahavira (vegan) (BrainyQuote)

If this was the end of my life, I truly didn’t know if there was anything beyond. I know what I had been told, but no one knows the answers to those things. American business executive Evan Mecham (vegetarian) shares how a devastating car crash led to a near-death experience, and he discovered that love is the greatest power in the Universe, death is easy, and we never truly die.

Evan grew up in Salt Lake City with loving, hardworking parents who taught him a strong work ethic. When financial difficulties hit Utah, his family moved to Southern California, where his parents bought a gas station. Evan worked there after high school athletics, staying until 10:00 pm each night, learning everything about cars and rebuilding engines. His automotive background led to a successful career in automotive parts and accessories. He became national sales manager for a company manufacturing accessories for major retailers, then vice president of operations for an organization making truck and car parts. This work required frequent moves around the country. One March night, Evan was driving home over a mountain after working late. Ice had formed on the roadway from melt. As he crested a rise, his headlights revealed a deer. He quickly turned left to avoid it, then turned back— but the car didn’t respond. He hit a semi-truck.

The truck hit right behind the driver’s side front wheel. It cut the vehicle from that point straight through to the right rear tail light of my car. Everything on the left side of the vehicle was gone. There were over 300 breaks in my rib cage, and my right knee hit the dashboard and drove the femoral head through my hip. So I was a mess. Evan’s spleen was severely ruptured, and he was bleeding out. The nearest hospital was 35 minutes away.

It’s incredibly cold. I’m beginning to shiver. I felt very alone. I continued to get weaker and weaker. The pain starts to come, and I’m in agony. My breathing was labored. It was very difficult to get enough air in my lungs. If this was the end of my life, I truly didn’t know if there was anything beyond. I know what I had been told, but no one knows the answers to those things. I began to think about myself as a little boy again. I could see everything that happened to me from the time I was a little person all the way through finding someone that I loved as a wife. I had three children. I thought I had lived a really good life, and I’m grateful. I started to feel less and less pain. I felt as if someone was drawing a blanket all the way up to my chest, and I was becoming warm. I took as much air in as I could. My eyes closed. I was unconscious.

Then Evan found himself somewhere completely unexpected. I woke up. I was laying someplace that I really couldn’t comprehend. It didn’t feel like anything I had ever felt before. It was almost as if there was a tight fog that held to the ground. I pushed myself up. I looked around. It was as if it was a night sky, only as I looked up at it, I could see the Milky Way galaxy, billions of stars. It was an incredibly beautiful sight. The firmament that I was standing on went off into infinity. And as I looked out, I saw a group of ethereal beings. They were bright. They were shining a really white, bright light, and this group called to me. I didn’t hear a voice. The idea simply appeared in my mind. And as soon as I accepted that idea, I began to move rather quickly in the direction of those beings. When I reached them, they circled around me, and I felt this overwhelming love, acceptance. I felt the love that binds all things, that heals all things. Love is the greatest power in the Universe. That’s how the creation was made, through love. Everything that I had heard before about being judged wasn’t a part of what I was experiencing in any way. I was made to feel that I had done something special. And these beings held me and sent energy and love into me. And I felt this incredible love that was everywhere around me and through me and in me. This was my true home.

Evan realized everything he’d been worried about no longer mattered. The most interesting thing was that everything that I had been worried about moments before, all of the things that I was doing at work—making another move and buying another home and selling the old one—all of the details that every human being goes through, all of a sudden, they were meaningless. And I had the feeling that whatever was next, everything would be OK. It would be just fine. (It’s an) amazing feeling to be relieved of all of the problems, all of the headaches of living in a three-dimensional existence. And I thought it’s really easy to die, and the hard part is living.

Evan was given a choice whether to stay or return. I had the idea that I could stay, or I could choose to go back. But it was my choice to make, and I was in a quandary. I didn’t know what to do. I found myself thinking about my three little children and my wife, how I would really like to see them grow up and see how their lives turned out. And when I thought that thought, I was rocketed back to my body. My body was laying in that automobile, and it was freezing. I was trying to squeeze my spirit back into this broken body. And as I did it, all of that agony of pain came back, and I found myself screaming.

First responders were using the jaws of life [Hydraulic rescue tool] to extract him. Coincidentally, the small hospital at the mountain’s base had held its very first trauma team meeting that night, so all the doctors were present when Evan arrived. They worked for hours to save his life. Doctors gave him a 3% chance of surviving the night. After surviving the ordeal, Evan’s wife and children noticed he became a completely different person. He became a vegetarian and changed everything about how he lived. Years later, while back in school, he watched a movie about near-death experiences and finally understood what had happened to him. He began studying other religions—Islam, Sufism, Buddhism—meditating and studying with rinpoches and priests in Colorado.

We’re all the same. And I realized that God is in everything, everywhere. The two of us sitting here today, we’re part of this creation. And there’s no separation between. You don’t find God over there or someplace else. You find God inside yourself. There’s no need to run around the world and try to find God. And you’re going to do that. And then you’re going to come home and realize that God has been in you all along. And when I slipped away that night, I realized we never really die. There is a place that is filled with love, abundance. I learned that this is an incredible opportunity to live here. Life has great meaning. And we learn big lessons here. We struggle to make a living. We struggle to educate ourselves. We struggle to get along with each other. It takes the struggles so that we can see the good. It takes the darkness so we can identify the light. We need this experience to show us where we came from and how wonderful it is. Embrace this opportunity and get the most out of it we possibly can. (Coming Home)