Author: Disha Mishra

DOHA/CAIRO/JERUSALEM, Jan 14 (Reuters) – Negotiators were meeting in Qatar on Tuesday hoping to finalise details of a plan to end the war in Gaza, after U.S. President Joe Biden indicated a ceasefire and hostage release deal was close, after 15 months of conflict that upended the Middle East. More than eight hours of talks in Doha had fuelled optimism. Officials from mediators Qatar, Egypt and the U.S. as well as Israel and Hamas said on Tuesday that an agreement for a truce in the besieged Palestinian enclave and the release of hostages was closer than ever. Qatar’s foreign ministry…

LOS ANGELES, Jan 14 (Reuters) – Los Angeles firefighters braced on Tuesday for a new round of intense winds that could fuel two monstrous wildfires that have already killed at least 24 people, leveled entire neighborhoods and scorched an area the size of Washington, D.C. Much of Los Angeles and Ventura County could experience wind gusts of 50 to 70 mph from early Tuesday through Wednesday as dry Santa Ana winds picked up after relative calm last week, according to the National Weather Service. It declared a red flag warning, meaning the situation was dangerous and could ignite new fires…

JERUSALEM, Jan 14 (Reuters) – Israeli far-right police minister Itamar Ben-Gvir threatened on Tuesday to quit Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government if he agrees to a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal being negotiated at talks in Qatar. Ben-Gvir, whose departure would not bring down Netanyahu’s government, urged Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to join him in a last-ditch attempt to prevent a ceasefire deal, which he described as a dangerous capitulation to Hamas. “This move is our only chance to prevent (the deal’s) execution, and prevent Israel’s surrender to Hamas, after more than a year of bloody war, in which…

BEIRUT, Jan 14 (Reuters) – Lebanon’s Prime Minister-designate Nawaf Salam said on Tuesday his hands are extended to everyone, in a gesture to the Iran-backed Hezbollah group that accused opponents of seeking to exclude it by nominating him for the post. Salam, nominated by a majority of Lebanese lawmakers on Monday, said he opposed exclusion and supported unity. “This is my sincere call, and my hands are extended to everyone,” he said. Salam, who was serving as president of the International Court of Justice before his designation as prime minister, cited priorities including rebuilding Lebanon from last year’s devastating war…

KOCHI, India, Jan 14 (Reuters) – Police in India’s southern state of Kerala have arrested 44 men accused of raping an 18-year-old girl over a period of five years, a police official said on Tuesday, in a case that has shocked the coastal tourist resort. The victim, an athlete who belongs to the so-called lower caste community known as Dalits, told police in a statement that she was sexually abused by 62 people over a period of five years. Police have identified 58 of those men, some of whom are minors and arrested 44 over the last two days, officials…

WASHINGTON, Jan 14 (Reuters) – Culture war issues like diversity in the military, rather than overseas conflicts, will likely be the focus of a Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday for U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Pentagon, former Fox News host Pete Hegseth. Hegseth is one of the most controversial figures ever nominated to be Secretary of Defense and, despite strong support from Trump’s Republicans, his confirmation may depend on his performance before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Reuters has examined several episodes of Hegseth’s clashes with feminists when he was a student at Princeton University. Separately, in…

WASHINGTON, Jan 14 (Reuters) – With 30 miles (48 km) of tall black temporary fencing, 25,000 law enforcement officers and security checkpoints set up to process hundreds of thousands of spectators, Washington is braced for President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration next week. The Monday swearing-in on the steps of the U.S. Capitol and parade to the White House will follow a weekend featuring protests by Trump’s opponents and parties and rallies by the Republican’s supporters. The inauguration follows a campaign marked by two attempts on Trump’s life – including one from a would-be assassin who nicked his ear with a bullet…

SEOUL, Jan 14 (Reuters) – After a battle in Russia’s snowy western region of Kursk this week, Ukrainian special forces scoured the bodies of more than a dozen slain North Korean enemy soldiers. Among them, they found one still alive. But as they approached, he detonated a grenade, blowing himself up, according to a description of the fighting posted on social media by Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces on Monday. The forces said their soldiers escaped the blast uninjured. Reuters could not verify the incident. But it is among mounting evidence from the battlefield, intelligence reports and testimonies of defectors that…

DAMASCUS, Jan 13 (Reuters) – Syria’s new central bank governor, Maysaa Sabreen, said she wants to boost the institution’s independence over monetary policy decisions, in what would be a sea change from the heavy control exerted under the Assad regime. Sabreen, previously the Central Bank of Syria’s number two, took over, opens new tab in a caretaker role from former governor Mohammed Issam Hazime late last year. She is a rare example of a former top state employee promoted after Syria’s new Islamic rulers’ lightning offensive led to President Bashar al-Assad’s fall on Dec. 8. “The bank is working on…

MOSCOW, Jan 14 (Reuters) – Russia is prepared to study U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s peace initiatives on Ukraine when he takes office next week, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday. Lavrov cautioned that Trump’s comments on the war – which he previously said he could end within 24 hours of entering the White House – were being made before his inauguration, but said Russia welcomed the fact that Trump’s team was starting to speak of “the reality on the ground” when discussing Ukraine. Lavrov said this was reflected in comments from both Trump and incoming national security adviser Mike…