Author: Disha Mishra

Jan 13 (Reuters) – Major stock markets in the Gulf were mixed in early trade on Monday, as unexpectedly strong U.S. jobs data reinforced expectations of prolonged elevated interest rates in the world’s largest economy. The hawkish jolt from the jobs data also raised the stakes in relation to consumer price figures on Wednesday where any rise in the core measure greater than the forecast of 0.2% would threaten to close the door on easing altogether. Markets have already scaled back expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts to just 27 basis points for all of 2025, with the Fed now…

JERUSALEM, Jan 13 (Reuters) – Angry members of some of the families of Israeli hostages still held in Gaza harangued Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Monday over his opposition to a deal being negotiated in Qatar to halt the fighting and bring their relatives home. Smotrich described the deal taking shape as “a catastrophe” for Israel’s security and said Israel should keep up its campaign in Gaza until the complete surrender of Hamas, the militant group that ran the enclave before the war. Dozens of members of the hostage families, many carrying photographs of the missing, squeezed into a committee…

DOHA/CAIRO, Jan 13 (Reuters) – Mediators gave Israel and Hamas a final draft of a deal on Monday to end the war in Gaza, an official briefed on the negotiations said, after a midnight “breakthrough” in talks attended by envoys of both Joe Biden and Donald Trump. The official said the text for a ceasefire and release of hostages was presented by Qatar to both sides at talks in Doha, which included the chiefs of Israel’s Mossad and Shin Bet spy agencies and Qatar’s prime minister. The official said Steve Witkoff, who will become U.S. envoy when Trump returns to…

BEIJING, Jan 13 (Reuters) – China’s vehicle exports are expected to grow 5.8% to 6.2 million units this year, cooling from a 19.3% increase in 2024, data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) showed on Monday. A slowdown in estimated exports contrasts with a slight uptick forecast for vehicle sales in China this year, as extended policy incentives are expected to bolster sales in the world’s largest auto market. The association did not give a breakdown of export estimates by engine types, but said exports of electric vehicles fell 10.4% last year while plug-in hybrid exports were up…

LOS ANGELES, Jan 12 (Reuters) – Firefighters raced to contain the frontiers of two Los Angeles wildfires that burned for the sixth straight day on Sunday, taking advantage of a brief respite in hazardous conditions before high winds were expected to fan the flames anew. At least 24 people have died in what California Governor Gavin Newsom said could be the most devastating natural disaster in U.S. history, one that has destroyed thousands of homes and forced 100,000 people to evacuate. Flames have reduced whole neighborhoods to smoldering ruins, leveling the homes of the rich and famous and ordinary folk…

MOSCOW, Jan 13 (Reuters) – Russia said on Monday it had downed nine Ukrainian drones that tried to attack part of the infrastructure of the TurkStream gas pipeline, through which Russian gas flows to Turkey and Europe. The Russian defence ministry said the attack was aimed against a compressor station in the Krasnodar region of southern Russia, but the facility was working normally and there were no casualties. Reuters could not independently confirm the incident, and there was no immediate comment from Ukraine. TurkStream and Blue Stream, which run under the Black Sea to Turkey, are Russia’s last routes for…

NEW DELHI, Jan 13 (Reuters) – India is not looking to reduce the number of troops along the northern frontier in winter, the country’s army chief said on Monday adding that it will review summer deployment based on outcome of negotiations with China. Four years ago, 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers were killed during border clashes following which both sides stopped patrolling several points on the border in Ladakh to avoid new confrontations, while moving tens of thousands of new troops and military equipment closer to the freezing mountainous region. New Delhi and Beijing reached a deal in October…

MOSCOW, Jan 13 (Reuters) – U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are expected to have a call in the coming days or weeks, and it is unrealistic to aim to expel Russian soldiers from every inch of Ukrainian territory, a top Trump adviser said. Trump, who will return as U.S. president on Jan. 20, styles himself as a master dealmaker and has vowed to swiftly end the war in Ukraine but not set out how he might achieve that. U.S. Congressman Mike Waltz, the incoming national security adviser, told ABC on Sunday that the war had become…

(Reuters) – Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday Kyiv is ready to hand over captured North Korean soldiers to their leader Kim Jong Un if he can facilitate their exchange for Ukrainians held captive in Russia. “In addition to the first captured soldiers from North Korea, there will undoubtedly be more. It’s only a matter of time before our troops manage to capture others,” Zelenskiy said on the social media platform X. Zelenskiy said on Saturday that Ukraine had taken two North Koreans prisoner in Russia’s Kursk region, the first time Ukraine has announced the capture of North Korean…

NEW DELHI/SINGAPORE, Jan 12 (Reuters) – Chinese and Indian refiners will source more oil from the Middle East, Africa and the Americas, boosting prices and freight costs, as new U.S. sanctions on Russian producers and ships curb supplies to Moscow’s top customers, traders and analysts said. The U.S. Treasury on Friday imposed sanctions on Russian oil producers Gazprom Neft (SIBN.MM), opens new tab and Surgutneftegas, as well as 183 vessels that have shipped Russian oil, targeting the revenues Moscow has used to fund its war with Ukraine. Many of the tankers have been used to ship oil to India and…