Country Financial News

Ecuador prison officials taken hostage by inmates have been freed, the prisons authority said Saturday, as the country grapples with a brutal campaign of gang terror. The 24 guards and 17 administrative employees had been «released,» the SNAI prisons agency said without providing details, while 133 guards and three employees continue to be held hostage.

South Africa says more than 50 countries have expressed support for its case at the United Nations' top court accusing Israel of genocide against Palestinians in the war in Gaza. Others, including the United States, have strongly rejected South Africa's allegation that Israel is violating the U.N. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Many more have remained silent.

China which has repeatedly denounced him as a dangerous separatist. 1. The Chinese Foreign Ministry reaffirmed its claim to the breakaway territory as part of its own in its first official response to the presidential elections in neighbouring Taiwan.

Maldives said Saturday that his country's small size doesn't give anyone the license to bully it, in a sign of defiance toward India, the archipelago state's giant neighbor. President Mohamed Muizzu, speaking to the media on his return from India's regional rival China, said the Maldives is not in any country's backyard and that the Indian Ocean does not belong to a single country — a reference to a recent tiff between the Maldives and India.

Indians headed to Santa Claus's home this winter, with Rovaniemi witnessing a 20% uptick in visitors from the country. These comprised high net-worth individuals (HNIs), honeymooners and families looking at the Finnish destination to experience not just a white Christmas, but also the northern lights and Arctic activities. Rovaniemi is the capital of Lapland, Finland, and is located on the Arctic Circle.

Pran Pratishtha ceremony at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, celebratory events have been planned at SitaRam Bagh Mandir in Hyderabad. SitaRam Bagh Mandir is one of the oldest Hindu temples in Hyderabad.

Deputy national security advisor (NSA) Vikram Misri will represent India at a peace meeting on Ukraine in Davos this weekend and is expected to suggest creation of a formula that is acceptable to all sides. India will emphasise on a holistic approach to creation of peace formula that should involve presence of all stakeholders in talks and the process for a durable peace, said people with knowledge of the matter. Misri will drive home India’s long-standing position on dialogue and diplomacy as the way forward to end the conflict, they said. This is the fourth edition of peace talks under the Copenhagen format led by NSAs.

Ayodhya has finally received the honour it deserved and should have been given immediately after independence, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Saturday. Speaking at the release of BJP leader Balbir Punj's book «Tryst with Ayodhya», Singh said Ayodhya is for Hindus what Mecca is for Muslims and Jerusalem for Christians. He said some people who used to question the existence of Lord Ram have been marginalised.

boycott Maldives trend as Indians expressed displeasure on the remarks made against PM Modi. Maldives took action against the 3 ministers and suspended them from their positions, but many Indians canceled their plans to visit Maldives with influential celebrities requesting people of the country to visit our islands like Lakshadweep instead. In his address, the Maldives President asserted that the ocean does not belong to any specific country and Maldives has one of the biggest shares of the ocean.

Ram temple consecration ceremony in Ayodhya next week will be handed a ‘Ramraj’ and prasad as a token gift. Here is all that you need to know about ‘Ramraj’ and other gifts in the goodie box. ‘Ramraj’ is the soil extracted during the temple’s foundation laying.

Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS). Besides, the minister said the workforce at BCAS, the country's aviation security body, will be increased by 400-450 people.

state visit to China, Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu on Saturday struck a defiant note saying that his country may be small but «doesn't give them the license to bully us». His comments came amid a diplomatic row with India over derogatory social media posts by three of his ministers against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. «We may be small but this doesn't give them the license to bully us,» Muizzu, who is regarded as a pro-China leader, said without naming any country.

NSA) Vikram Misri will represent India at a peace meeting on Ukraine in Davos this weekend and is expected to suggest creation of a formula that is acceptable to all sides. India will emphasise on a holistic approach to creation of peace formula that should involve presence of all stakeholders in talks and the process for a durable peace, said people with knowledge of the matter. Misri will drive home India's long-standing position on dialogue and diplomacy as the way forward to end the conflict, they said. This is the fourth edition of peace talks under the Copenhagen format led by NSAs.

Novak Djokovic will bring his simmering rivalry with two young guns of the men's game to the Australian Open where his hunt for a record-extending 11th title and 25th Grand Slam crown overall carries an air of inevitability despite an early loss in 2024. The 36-year-old defied the odds to raise the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup last year as he overcame a ruptured hamstring and a distracting political row involving his father to win, before going past Rafa Nadal's tally of 22 majors at the French Open. He claimed a third Grand Slam trophy late last season at the U.S.

Insured damages from natural catastrophes and severe weather in Canada topped $3 billion for the second year in a row.

Maharashtra but is a project of pride for the entire nation, Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said here on Saturday. He inspected the progress of the work connected to the airport, which is being built in five phases. «The physical and financial completion is 55 to 60 per cent.

Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu said on Saturday that China, largest external creditor to the country, has agreed to consider restructuring the repayment of loans taken by his country and the governments will initiate negotiations soon. He told the media in Male after his return from a five-day high-profile state visit to China that he has directly appealed to Chinese President Xi Jinping to restructure the loans provided to the Maldives. He said that the loans were direct loans and that a technical team from China's Finance Ministry will travel to Maldives soon «to research and decide the way to offer a grace period in loan repayments over next five years, Maldives news portal Sun online reported.

India has also flagged its concerns about problems being faced by domestic businesses in getting timely visas for the US and has urged America to fast track the process, an official statement said on Saturday. These concerns were raised during the 14th India-US Trade Policy Forum held in New Delhi on Friday. It was co-chaired by the US Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal. “For H1B renewal visas, stamping has begun in the US on a pilot basis and we have asked them to make it permanent and for family members also,” an official told ET, adding that by April, tourist and business visa times to the US are expected to get normalised. The commerce ministry said that the two ministers noted that the movement of professional and skilled workers, students, investors and business visitors between the countries contributes immensely to enhancing bilateral economic and technological partnership.

ALSO READ: Hewlett Packard Enterprise in talks to buy Juniper Networks in $13bn deal: Report HS Code 8471 includes products related to automatic data processing machines and units. It includes a mouse, printers, scanners, and CD drives.

Venezuela’s national cryptocurrency, the Petro (PTR), is set to cease operations on January 15.

global support for India's permanent membership at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that sometimes things are not given generously and one has to seize it. «With each passing year, the feeling in the world is that India should be there, and I can feel that support...The world does not give things easily and generously; sometimes you have to take them,» the EAM said on a question regarding a permanent seat for India at the UNSC. The EAM was speaking at 'Manthan': Townhall meeting in Maharashtra's Nagpur. Jaishankar then pointed that India which has showed the capability of conducting a successful G20 presidency, that brought out " New Delhi Declaration" despite of diferences within the member nations,will contribute in the UNSC. «If a country has such a capability, such a country in the UNSC can actually contribute as well,» he added. On the relevance of the UN, the EAM said that in many ways, the limitations of the UN are now showing and that the organisation used to be more relevant in the 1950s-60s. United Nations (UN) is getting more and more ineffective in confronting key issues, he said, «The UN used to be more relevant in the 1950s-60s, but as the number of country's grew, it was easier for the permanent members to dominate the smaller countries.