Hopes rise for a Gaza ceasefire deal

Plus, report found Trump engaged in 'criminal effort' to overturn 2020 election.

Sign up for Reuters newsletters  Daily Briefing Daily Briefing By Kate Turton Negotiators are hoping to finalize details of a plan to end the war in Gaza, and North Korea's suicide soldiers pose a new challenge for Ukraine. A special counsel report found Trump engaged in a 'criminal effort' to overturn the 2020 election, while Santa Ana winds threaten to stoke massive LA fires anew. Plus, a Reuters Special Report reveals Berkshire Hathaway operates the dirtiest set of coal-fired power plants in the US. Today's Top News   Supporters of Israeli hostages demand a deal during a protest amid ongoing negotiations for a ceasefire in Gaza. REUTERS/Itai Ron War in Gaza Negotiators in Doha are inching closer to sealing a deal for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release. Listen to Foreign Policy Editor Don Durfee on this episode of the Reuters World News podcast as he weighs in on why this time a deal may make it over the finish line.  Israeli far-right police minister Itamar Ben-Gvir threatened to quit Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government if he agrees to a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal. Follow our live blog for the latest. United States Special Counsel Jack Smith concluded that Donald Trump engaged in an "unprecedented criminal effort" to hold on to power after losing the 2020 election, but he was thwarted in bringing the case to trial by the president-elect's November election victory. Los Angeles firefighters braced for intense winds that could fuel two monstrous wildfires that have already killed two dozen people, leveled entire neighborhoods and scorched an area the size of Washington, D.C. Meanwhile, questions about California's preparedness and response have rendered Democratic leaders vulnerable to escalating attacks from the right In other news Mounting evidence from the battlefield, intelligence reports and testimonies of defectors shows that some North Korean soldiers are resorting to extreme measures as they support Russia's three-year war with Ukraine. Germany, Poland, Britain, France and Italy will implement as swiftly as possible new NATO targets for weapons and troop numbers which the alliance is about to agree upon, German Defence Minister Pistorius pledged. At least 400 illegal miners remained trapped underground in South Africa two months after a police raid, a group working on behalf of the miners said, which provided footage of dozens of dead bodies and emaciated men in the mine. The annual travel rush for China's Lunar New Year celebrations officially began, with many taking a mental break from their worries about the future to reunite with family or take a holiday. Business & Markets President Joe Biden's outgoing administration is finalizing rules that will effectively bar nearly all Chinese cars and trucks from the US market, as part of a crackdown on vehicle software and hardware from China.  For more on the industry, sign up for our Auto File Newsletter. Supertanker freight rates jumped after the US expanded sanctions on Russia's oil industry, sending traders rushing to book vessels to ship supply from other countries to China and India, shipbrokers and traders said. Canadian miner Barrick Gold said it will have to suspend mining operations in Mali after the government seized gold stocks from the company's Loulo-Gounkoto complex and flew them out by helicopter over the weekend. Britain's finance minister Rachel Reeves and Prime Minister Keir Starmer are seeking to stem a market slump, but for now what happens next to rising government borrowing costs and the falling pound is largely beyond their control. High government spending and a growing need among big economies - from the United States to Britain and France - to tap bond markets to fund their outlays have shot up the list of concerns for some policymakers and investors. As a result, talk of a return of bond vigilantes is growing. International battery cell makers are struggling to compete with Chinese giants like CATL. But innovations like solid-state batteries could upend the industry in the not-too-distant future. In this week's episode of The Big View podcast, QuantumScape CEO Siva Sivaram explains how. Berkshire Hathaway operates the dirtiest set of coal-fired power plants in the US   Coal, piled here at Berkshire's Jim Bridger facility in Wyoming, remains the source of 16% of the electricity in the US. REUTERS/Jim Urquhart In his letter to investors last year, Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett urged readers to come "inhale the air, drink the water" and attend the company's annual shareholder meeting in Omaha, his hometown. But federal emissions data show that Omaha's air quality ranks in the bottom third of US cities, fouled in part by coal-fired power plants owned by Berkshire in neighboring Iowa.  Read our special report And Finally... REUTERS/Stefica Nicol Bikes Australian scientists have discovered a bigger, more venomous species of the Sydney funnel-web spider, one of the world's deadliest. Read more Sponsors are not involved in the creation of newsletters or other Reuters news content. 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