Author: Disha Mishra

PRAYAGRAJ, India, Jan 13 (Reuters) – Tens of thousands of Hindus seeking absolution of their sins immersed themselves on Monday in freezing waters at the confluence of sacred rivers, as India began a six-week festival expected to draw the world’s largest gathering of humanity. Held every 12 years, the Maha Kumbh Mela or Great Pitcher Festival, as the religious event in the city of Prayagraj in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh is called, attracts more than 400 million visitors, both Indians and tourists. As many as 40,000 police officers are on guard to provide security and help manage the…

Jan 13 (Reuters) – Six member states of the European Union have called for the bloc to temporarily suspend sanctions on Syria in areas such as transport, energy and banking, according to a paper seen by Reuters. EU foreign ministers are set to discuss relaxing Syria sanctions during a meeting in Brussels on Jan. 27. European leaders began reassessing their policy toward Damascus after the ousting of president Bashar al-Assad by insurgent forces led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is designated as a terrorist group by the United States and most other countries, as well as the…

MOSCOW, Jan 13 (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian will hold talks in Russia on Jan. 17 after which they will sign a long-awaited comprehensive strategic partnership pact, the Kremlin said on Monday. The two leaders will discuss options for further expanding ties between Moscow and Tehran, including in the trade and investment, transport and logistics, and humanitarian spheres, the Kremlin said. Putin and Pezeshkian will also talk about regional and international issues, it added. Russia has cultivated closer ties with Iran and other countries hostile towards the U.S., such as North Korea, since the…

WAD MADANI, Sudan, Jan 13 (Reuters) – Civilians and soldiers celebrated in Wad Madani, the capital of Sudan’s El Gezira state, after it was recaptured by the Sudanese army from the paramilitary Rapid Support Services, marking a possible turning point in a devastating near two-year civil war. “We are so happy, we can’t express ourselves,” said one woman on Sunday, as soldiers shot into the air and people cheered on the streets. “A whole year we have been squeezed, we haven’t been able to breathe.” The war began in the capital Khartoum in April 2023 over the integration of the…

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…