Lineup: 1. Fatalities feared in stampede at Indian religious festival 2. Bangkok fetes lunar new year, but news may cast shadow 3. Pakistan faces challenges to eradicate polio

Lunar New Year festivals and prayers are marking the start of the Year of the Snake around Asia and farther afield.

Asian stocks have advanced in thin Lunar New Year trading following a rebound on Wall Street driven by tech stocks as the panic over Chinese AI company DeepSeek faded

Lunar New Year, often called the Spring Festival or Chinese New Year, is the most important holiday in China and many other Asian communities. Every year is marked by a different animal and 2025 is the Year of the Snake.

TOKYO -- The stocks of Japanese companies poised to benefit from the rush of Chinese tourists visiting during the Lunar New Year holiday have rallied in Tokyo, even as the rest of the Nikkei Stock Average remained lackluster.

Australia's export price index rose 3.6%, while its import price index advanced 0.2% in the fourth quarter of 2024.

ASX 200 hits a record high on rate cut speculation, while US stocks retreat after Powell dims rate cut hopes. Nikkei edges up amid AI export concerns.

Asian shares mostly rose Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve opted not to cut interest rates for the first time since it began trying to help

More than a billion people across the world, from China to the Philippines to diaspora communities in the United States, began celebrating the Lunar New Year on Tuesday with fireworks, family time and feasts. On Wednesday, the first new moon of the Year of the Snake will mark the imminent arrival of spring.

In the Chinese zodiac, 2025 is the Year of the Snake. Different countries across Asia celebrate the new year in many ways and may follow a different zodiac.

Firecrackers, parades and prayers marked the Lunar New Year as millions around Asia and farther afield celebrated