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

Communities across the world begin celebrating Lunar New Year on Jan. 29 — and 2025 marks the Year of the Snake.

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

Lunar New Year celebrations begin Wednesday. Here's everything to know about the 2025 Lunar New Year, the Year of the Snake.

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

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.

Celebrate the Year of the Snake by devouring one of these special Chinese New Year menus at the SkyCity precinct.

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.