World News

China's birth rate hits record low: Why Chinese youth aren't having kids

Births in China fell to a record low in 2025 despite subsidies and policy shifts, as young Chinese delay marriage and parenthood amid high costs, job uncertainty and long working hours

Japan PM Takaichi dissolves parliament, calls snap election on Feb 8

The February 8 vote will decide all 465 seats in the lower house of parliament and will mark Takaichi's first nationwide electoral test since she assumed office in October

Trump links Greenland threats to Nobel prize snub in letter to Norway's PM

Trump rattled Nato allies over the weekend after threatening to impose tariffs on a group of European members of the alliance if he doesn't get control of Greenland

Attack on Khamenei means full-scale war: Iran warns US after Trump remarks

Iran said that any attack on Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would mean war, after Donald Trump called for an end to his nearly 40-year rule

Global supply chains enter era of structural volatility as risks mount: WEF

The World Economic Forum report, released ahead of its annual meeting 2026 here, said this volatility reflects a fundamental rewiring of global value chains, driven by geopolitics

China's population falls 17% in 2025 despite policies to boost births

China's population of 1.4 billion continued to shrink, marking the fourth straight year of decrease, new government statistics show

High-speed trains collide in southern Spain, killing at least 39 people

Antonio Sanz, regional health minister for the Andalusia region where the crash happened, said officials told him they fear the death toll may rise further as rescue ops are underway

Explained: What is Trump's Gaza Peace Board and who are its members

The US-led Gaza Peace Board, proposed by President Donald Trump, will oversee ceasefire, governance and rebuilding in Gaza, with India among the countries invited to join

China more reliable than US: Beijing's top agenda for Davos WEF 2026

He Lifeng, Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China, is scheduled to address the forum on Tuesday

China's economic momentum weakens despite meeting 5% growth goal

The world's second-largest economy expanded 4.5 per cent last quarter from a year earlier, the slowest pace since the reopening from Covid lockdowns in late 2022

Nvidia supplier Micron warns memory chip shortage to last beyond 2026

Global smartphone shipments may decline 2.1 per cent next year as a shortage of memory chips drives up costs and squeezes production, industry tracker Counterpoint Research estimated in December

Trump's tariffs over Greenland have blown up EU appeasement plan

Moments before von der Leyen stepped to the podium in Paraguay, the US president dropped a blistering announcement: He was piling more tariffs on Europe over its support for Greenland

Trump must take Greenland as Europe too 'weak' to ensure security: Bessent

Trump's latest salvo to wrest control of Greenland from Denmark - a Nato ally and EU member - slaps a 10 per cent tariff on goods from eight European countries on Feb 1, rising to 25 per cent in June

Why Elon Musk is seeking $134 billion from OpenAI and Microsoft in court

Elon Musk says OpenAI and Microsoft earned billions from his early support and now owes him those gains, as a jury trial in the case is set for April

Canada weighs sending troops to Greenland despite Trump tariff threat

The government has drafted plans for a small number of Canadian Armed Forces troops to join those from the UK, France, Denmark and other nations

China's $7 trillion cash pile begins shifting into higher-yield assets

Investors are weighing a move into stocks, wealth management products or insurance, which would align with Beijing's efforts to cultivate sustainable market gains to support the broader economy

EU to retaliate with €93 bn tariffs after Trump's threat over Greenland

French President Emmanuel Macron has asked the EU to use its 'anti-coercion instrument,' often called the 'trade bazooka'

Steel factory explosion in China's Inner Mongolia kills 2, hospitalises 84

The blast occurred at a Baogang United Steel plant in the city of Baotou around 3 pm local time Sunday and caused tremors in the surrounding areas.

Chinese envoy Yao Wen meets Bangladesh NSA Khalilur Rahman in Dhaka

Discussions included the Teesta River Comprehensive Management and Restoration Project and the proposed Bangladesh-China Friendship Hospital

'Unconstitutional': Minneapolis mayor on troop deployment for ICE crackdown

It's ridiculous, but we will not be intimidated by the actions of this federal government, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said on Sunday