Southern Financial News

Israel and Hamas appeared to be back on track Sunday after the release of a second group of militant-held hostages and Palestinians from Israeli prisons, and Egypt said it had received new lists for an expected third release. In a separate development, Hamas announced Sunday that one of its top commanders had been killed, without saying when or how. Israel's military confirmed it.

India vs Australia second T20I: After a high-scoring first-game thriller, the bilateral series between India and Australia moved to Southern India for the second encounter in Thiruvananthapuram, where the latter will try to even the score. India takes a narrow 1-0 lead in the five-game series.  

HAMAS murdered and kidnapped 1,400 people on October 7th it triggered the biggest Middle East crisis in a decade and a brutal war in Gaza. On November 24th a small number of the roughly 240 captives tasted freedom again amid a four-day truce in the fighting. Israeli officials confirmed that 13 Israeli hostages had been handed over to the Red Cross; the authorities in Qatar said another 11 captives, ten holding Thai passports and one from the Philippines, were being released.

China and the United States exchanged accusations at the weekend over the disputed South China Sea, after China's military said it had driven away a U.S. warship that the U.S.

shopping mall in Pakistan’s commercial capital of Karachi, officials said. More than 60 people were inside the mall when the fire broke out on the fourth floor of the six-storey building in the southern port city. “Our rescue workers have taken 11 dead bodies to hospitals so far,” said Shahid Hussain, a spokesman for the Chippa welfare organisation, which runs a rescue service. He said 35 people were injured, with seven of them in serious condition.

By Bassam Masoud and Maayan Lubell

Midwest and Great Lakes region on Sunday. Alongside the snow, a mix of sleet and freezing rain is likely in the eastern Texas Panhandle, extending into northwestern Oklahoma through Saturday afternoon, contributing to travel challenges in the area. Certain areas may witness freezing rain accumulating at a rate of one-tenth of an inch per hour. According to the FOX Forecast Center, there will be moderate to heavy snowfall moving from southwestern to northeastern Kansas, with anticipated accumulations of 4-8 inches. Gusty winds and heavy snow bands, at times reaching rates of 1 inch per hour. A wintry mix, accompanied by lighter snow accumulations, is projected from the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles through southeastern Kansas into northern Missouri. Conditions are forecasted to improve by Sunday morning. Simultaneously, the storm will introduce light snowfall into the Upper Mississippi Valley and the Great Lakes late Saturday night into Sunday, with the possibility of a couple of inches accumulating around Chicago. Saturday's temperatures in the Central Plains are forecasted to range from the 20s to the 30s, while in the northern part of the Southern Plains, temperatures are expected to be in the 40s.

Hamas' al-Qassam Brigades said the hostage releases would be delayed if Israel did not adhere to the agreed terms for the release of Palestinian prisoners. There was no immediate Israeli response to the statement. Earlier an Israeli military spokesperson had told France's BFM television station that, barring last minute changes, 13 Israeli hostages were expected to be freed. He said 39 Palestinian prisoners would be released in return. Under the truce deal between Israel and Hamas, mediated by Qatar, a total of 50 hostages are to be exchanged for 150 Palestinian prisoners, some of them convicted on weapon charges and violent offences, over four days. In the first exchange on Friday, 13 Israeli women and children — out of around 240 hostages captured by Hamas fighters on a killing spree in southern Israel on Oct.

Telangana Assembly polls next week, the Election Commission (EC) has issued an «advisory» to Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao for his controversial remarks against the Congress leadership, asking him to follow the provisions of the Model Code of Conduct in «letter and spirit». On October 30, Rao had made certain threatening remarks against the Congress leadership in the Banswada constituency of the southern state following an attack on a member of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), led by him. A National Students' Union of India (NSUI) leader had approached the poll panel against Rao. «You are hereby advised to follow the provisions of the MCC in letter and spirit,» the advisory read.

Congress leader and former Union Minister P Chidambaram on Saturday said the word secularism is being given a different twist and termed as appeasement. The former union home minister who had also held the finance portfolio, said at a lecture on the 'Future of Democracy' at St Xavier's University here that the word secularism is being misinterpreted.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday dismissed allegations by Kerala's Left government of negligence in fund allocation and claimed that the Central government promptly sends the required funds to the people of the southern state without any delay. Responding to the Left government's allegations of not releasing funds under various categories, she pointed fingers at the state government, alleging that it was due to the state's failure to meet the necessary criteria.

Pakistan's commercial capital of Karachi, officials said.

Gaza Strip for the first time in seven weeks, with more hostages set to freed. The following is a timeline of the war between Israel and Hamas, the Islamist movement that controls the Gaza Strip. Oct. 7: Hamas gunmen launch a surprise attack on southern Israel, crossing over from Gaza and rampaging through towns. Israel says the gunmen kill 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and take more than 240 hostages. Hamas military commander Mohammad Deif announces on Hamas media that the attack has started and urges Palestinians everywhere to fight. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel is «at war» and retaliatory air strikes against Hamas-run Gaza begin, along with a total siege of the narrow coastal enclave squeezed between Israel and Egypt. Oct. 13: Israel tells residents of Gaza City, where more than 1 million of the enclave's 2.3 million people live, to evacuate and move south.

world's largest iceberg, A23a, is on the move for the first time in 37 years, according to recent satellite images from the British Antarctic Survey. The iceberg, which is almost 4,000 square kilometers (or 1,500 square miles) in area, is roughly three times the size of New York City.

Rain Alert! IMD issues warning for Tamil Nadu, Puducherry for next 3 hours According to the IMD, the formation of low pressure in the Bay of Bengal is the reason behind the unseasonal rainfall. "Due to the formation of low pressure in the Bay of Bengal, thunderstorm activities are likely to begin at isolated places of south Maharashtra from tomorrow. A yellow alert has been issued for November 26-28 across Maharashtra," Sunil Kamble, Head, of IMD Mumbai, told PTI.

Gaza on Saturday by Palestinian militant group Hamas, officials said, following the release of 24 hostages during the first day of a planned four-day truce on Friday. Israeli security officials were reviewing the list, said a statement from the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose government promised to work toward the release of all hostages taken by Hamas in an attack on Israel on Oct. 7. The released hostages, including Israeli women and children and Thai farm workers, were transferred out of Gaza and handed over to Egyptian authorities at the Rafah border crossing, accompanied by eight staff members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in a four-car convoy, the ICRC said.

Federal inspectors have twice found hundreds of defects in the locomotives and railcars Union Pacific was using at the world’s largest railyard in Nebraska, but none of those seem to explain why a shipping container filled with toxic acid exploded ther...

October alone saw a 21% jump from a year ago. Demand is usually lower in these months than in the preceding summer months, but the deviation surprised the sector. August's electricity consumption was 9% higher than in July and 12% higher than in May. The highest-ever peak demand of 240 GW was met on September 1, against the anticipated peak of 229 GW for April. August saw a 16.3% year-on-year increase in electricity consumption, while September recorded a 10.3% increase. Peak demand in October was 221.6 GW, up 18.5% from 187 GW a year ago.

MEXICO CITY/COPENHAGEN (Reuters) — A Danish fund will invest $10 billion in a development hub in southern Mexico to produce green hydrogen for ships and to replace fossil fuel use, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Friday.

Gaza Strip. «Those released include 13 Israeli citizens, some of whom are dual citizens, in addition to 10 Thai citizens and a Filipino citizen,» said Majed al-Ansari, the ministry's spokesman. Qatar was a key mediator in the hostage release. The International Committee of the Red Cross, which delivered the hostages from Gaza into Egypt, also confirmed the release. The hostages, women and children, were undergoing medical checks before they were to be transferred to Israel.

Israel-Hamas truce, twelve Thai nationals held captive by Hamas were released from Gaza on Friday. Along with them, thirteen Israeli captives were also released on the same day. Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin confirmed the release of twelve Thai hostages kidnapped by Palestinian militants during Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel.